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Finding Connection & Purpose in Cēsis: DFA’s Annual Meeting 2025
October 13, 2025
This October, something special happened in Cēsis, Latvia — the seat of the LAMPA Conversation Festival became a gathering ground for those who believe deeply in democracy festivals as spaces of hope, exchange, and togetherness.
For three days (8–10 October), organisers from Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Finland, and Latvia came together for the Democracy Festivals Association’s annual meeting. Old friends reunited, new faces arrived, and everyone brought stories: of successes, of challenges, and of what lies ahead.
What We Did & What We Felt
We started off with warm greetings — from the LAMPA hosts, from Tone Skindlo Taraldsen of Arendalsuka (our DFA board chair), and from our partners at the Nordic Council of Ministers in Latvia. There was a shared sense that this meeting wasn’t just procedural. It was about people who believe in democracy festivals for what they can do, not just what they represent.
Over the three days, we:
Heard presentations from member festivals about this year’s editions— the numbers, the surprises, the lessons learned.
Held workshops aimed at confronting the questions that keep us up at night: How do we talk about what democracy festivals are with clarity (and courage)? How do we protect them and sustain them in changing political and financial climates?
Shared methods, formats, mistakes, and creative fixes — in small groups and across tables, the kind of learning that only happens when people open up.
But just as important were the quieter moments: walking together through Cēsis, seeing the castle at dusk, dinners stretched out into evening conversations. These moments often leave more than bullet points or PowerPoints. They leave friendships renewed, ideas sparked, new collaborations born.
What We Take Home
By the end, certain threads kept coming back:
Democracy is a conversation, and it takes time. It grows through dialogue—between citizens, between organisers, between festivals. Each of us is part of the same ongoing democratic story, written in many voices.
Sustainability is never simple — financial, political, logistical. But hearing different approaches (from small festivals, from bigger ones) helps us imagine paths forward.
Shared culture & trust are our real infrastructure. The more we know each other’s histories, capacities, and pressures, the more resilient the DFA becomes.
Cēsis was more than a venue. It was a reminder that democracy festivals are lived — in laughter, in uncertainty, in collaboration, in the shared work of making space for voices. The DFA meeting here didn’t just review what’s been done — it renewed what can be done together.
The World Needs Democracy Festivals
April 1, 2019
Eight democracy festivals from the Nordic and Baltic regions and a European-wide festival have joined forces and established the International Democracy Festivals Association. “The vision of the Association is to revitalise democracy by strengthening the link between a political system and citizens as well as creating spaces for dialogue and participation,” says the Chair of the Association, Zakia Elvang.
Democracy Festivals Unite the nordic
and Baltic Sea Region
January 26, 2018
After two years of cross-analytic fieldwork,
the first comprehensive overview of the Nordic and Baltic democracy festivals is published and supplemented by an inspirational guide for those who want to build their own democracy festival or lead democratic processes with stronger interaction and conversations.
The work is supported with funding by the Nordic Council
of Ministers.
MEDIA ABOUT US
Almedalsveckan på export
In December 2019, 15 people from democracy festivals around Europe met in Visby, Gotland to exchange experiences and best practices on how to run and develop a democracy festival, with the Almedalsveckan, the Swedish democracy festival, as a role model.
Great international interest for Almedalsveckan!
Many countries look to Sweden, and the number of democratic meeting places around the world is growing every year. It is not only in the western world that the ripples from Palme's speech in Almedalen have spread. This year, Almedalen Week will receive visits from delegations from Finland, Uruguay and South Korea.
Why the UK needs a democracy festival!
The ‘festival’ is something Britain is particularly good at, fields and urban centres all over the country have hosted music, book, food, and beer festivals, year after year. Festivals draw international interest and attention. With this established heritage of festivals, the current divisive nature of politics, and the problems with media bias increasing in recent years – we should be able to gather interest in a national democracy festival.
Danish Democracy Festival to be Exported to the rest of the world
March 30, 2019
Many countries wish to organise a democracy festival. Now they can get an advice and help from the democracy festivals that are already established in the Nordic Baltic Regions.
(The article is written in Danish)