The idea

History

The idea of a youth choir festival originated in a contest of ideas initiated by the Fond Basel 86 with the theme “Basel – City of Encounters”.

Since 1992, the European Festival of Youth Choirs has been organized every three years. In the meantime, it is well established. With audiences of over 20’000 people, you can’t imagine the cultural life of the city and the region without this event.

As an intercultural event, the festival follows the principle of invitation. There is no contest or rating of the choirs during the festival.

Central Theme

The idea of encounters is the core of the festival. The decisive factor is the willingness of youth choirs, schools, musical schools and church parishes of Basel and the region to accommodate more than 800 young singers in guest families.

Musical encounters are furthered by singing together. At the day of the workshops, the choirs study and rehearse folk songs from the different countries together. At the Open Singing, the audience gets a chance to enlarge their own repertoire of popular songs.

In 25 bigger and smaller concerts in Basel and the region the choirs present a wide cultural range of european choir singing.

The musical quality is very high. The artistic advisory committee selects the choirs after an intensive study of recent recordings and precise informations about the characteristics and the management of the respective choirs.

Sponsoring

The Festival is made possible by contributions of the Christoph Merian Stiftung, the Lotteriefonds Basel-Stadt und Baselland and many other sponsors and private donors.