EJN Staff Exchange Programme

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Previous Participant: Theresa Eder

"To sum up, these six days I spent in South Tyrol were a very formative time, with interesting encounters and inspiring environments bringing many valuable new ideas"
From: Jazzfestival Saalfelden (Austria)
To: Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige (Italy)
Dates: 22 - 27 June 2022


On Wednesday, June 22, I headed with my car towards South Tyrol for my first Staff Exchange. Arriving in Bolzano, I met Max von Pretz, the executive producer of the festival. He spent the first afternoon with me, showing me the office as well as the mainstage in the Kapuzinerpark. Regarding the production, I already got a valuable insight behind the scenes, when he introduced me to their working methods as well as to an impressive Google Sheet, which unites all important interfaces of the festival.   

The very next day I threw myself into the final preparations together with the festival team, because the official opening already took place the following day, on Friday. The mainstage got the final touch with creative details. I'm very happy to have witnessed these setup works as well, because it always encourages one's own creativity when designing locations.   

When the festival started, my main task was to take care of concerts in various locations. It should be noted that the Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige is exactly the right event to generate ideas for new concerts and locations. Hardly any other festival features so many locations in a time span of 10 days - in total there are far more than 30 venues. This also leads to a logistical challenge, from which one can learn some efficient working methods in one's own festival production.     

Specifically, I got to experience two concerts outside of Bolzano, the forest concert in Jenesien and a concert on the mountain, at a pond on Speikboden. These two concerts will remain especially in my memory because of the wonderful music, amazing people and beautiful places. To sum up, these six days I spent in South Tyrol were a very formative time, with interesting encounters and inspiring environments bringing many valuable new ideas.   

I would really like to thank Max, Roberto, Stefan and the whole team of Südtirol Jazzfestival AA for these great days and for the unforgettable experience!