ACCESS Tampere Next Generation Culture Festival
ACCESS Tampere Next Generation Culture Festival held in April 2023 was an inclusive and accessible event created by our entire international community. Around 1700 people attended the events. As many as 15 professional and amateur artists of different nationalities brought their performances to Tampere. In total, 112 performers took part. The open call for proposals received nearly 100 submissions from all over the world.
The aim of the project was to raise the voice of young people, strengthen empowerment, inclusion and equality, and build skills in the areas of accessibility.
The City of Tampere was the main catalyst and main partner of the event. The festival was made possible through a number of different funding projects. These included Operation Pirkanmaa, the European Capital of Culture legacy project and the Ministry of Education and Culture. As many as 57 young performers were able to attend the festival through the Erasmus+Contact project.
The programme was designed together with a working group of young adults in a process that lasted more than a year. Young people with disabilities, mental health challenges and a range of other backgrounds were selected. We worked closely with them to ensure that the event could be built according to the principles of accessibility and safe space, both in terms of content and facilities. Each event emphasised the importance of putting these principles into practice. All participants had a safe and welcoming space to be part of the festival.
The programme included concerts ranging from classical to pop music, dance performances, workshops and an art exhibition, as well as interesting project presentations from Finland and abroad. The event provided networking opportunities to exchange ideas and create new collaborative projects.
A warm thank you to everyone who was involved in making the event possible!
ACCESS Tampere Festival Collaborators
