80 Years – HOLLAND / AVIGNON / EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

How do you capture the spirit of a festival on paper? Published to mark the 80th anniversary of the Holland Festival, this ambitious volume reimagines the festival book as a living cultural archive rather than a chronological history. Bringing together the Holland Festival, Festival d’Avignon, and the Edinburgh International Festival, it celebrates three pioneering institutions that have shaped the international performing arts landscape since 1947.

Structured around the ideas of collective, collage, and culture, the book combines newly commissioned essays with artist-led contributions that blur the boundaries between archive, artwork, and reflection. Cultural historians, philosophers, and curators explore the festivals’ shared histories and evolving roles in society, while twenty artists respond freely to defining and unusual moments from the festivals’ past and present. Together, they reveal how artistic innovation, international exchange, and cultural debate have continually redefined what a festival can be.

Published in three languages, this richly illustrated volume is a polyphonic celebration of performance, memory, and imagination. It invites readers to experience the festival not simply as a programme of events, but as a place where art, ideas, and society meet, collide, and inspire new ways of seeing the world. Designed by Irma Boom.

Text in English, French and Dutch