Congratulations to Gulbenkian for bOing! European award

Gary Hughes
BOING16-6098 (1) by Manu Palomeque

Kent’s International Family Festival has been honoured with a major European festival award.

The bOing! International Family Festival, produced and programmed by Gulbenkian, has been awarded a Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe (EFFE) label by the European Festivals Association.

This prized award is given to festivals that stand for artistic quality and have a significant impact on a local, national and international level.

The bOing! International Family Festival 2017 is one of only 26 UK festivals in the list of 715 festivals from 39 countries to have received the EFFE label 2017-2018.

The European Festivals Association was particularly impressed by bOing!’s ‘commitment to European work and supporting UK companies with a strong international presence’ and ‘the healthy balance between indoor and outdoor programming and the strong message of inclusivity [that] shines through.’

bOing! is an annual festival, run every August bank holiday weekend. It showcases the very best in theatre, dance, music and films created for all ages across Europe. It is is free to enter, with charges only for indoor performances, and is aimed at everyone, regardless of age or experience of theatre. 

The Festival began in 2014, when 2,500 people attended. Audiences have since grown to 11,000 in 2016 and are anticipated to increase again in 2017.

Tickets for bOing! are now on sale from the Festival website or the Gulbenkian Tickets & Information line on 01227 769075.