This small and sleepy seaside town had been picked as the perfect location - away from the usual festival hubbub - to give the FIT Festival Directors chance to plan FESTIVAL LAB, a fabulous opportunity for Europe's 20 brightest and boldest emerging festival directors and producers.

 

We met with the lovely Tilmann (Spielart), Gundega (Homo Novus), Katya (Festival Exodos), Mette (Meteor Festival), Magda (Krakowski Reminiscencje Teatralne), Annika (POT Festival) and Eva (Baltic Circle), who had organised the trip for us.  The whole process was facilitated by our very own Rose Fenton, LIFT festival co-founder and FIT network 'continuity girl'!

 

Over two long, light days we ate vast quantities of pickled herring and boiled potatoes, suffered serious wi-fi withdrawal symptoms, and created an incredible training programme.  FESTIVAL LAB will start with a five day academy in Europe, include workshops in eight European cities, and end with the chance to undertake a residency at one of the FIT Festivals.  We'll be opening the application process at the end of June and will put all the details on the LIFT website ASAP...

 

On the way home we got the chance to explore the fantastic Kiasma in Helsinki, where I became so enthralled by Johanna Lecklin's Story Cafe that I came alarmingly close to missing my flight.