It’s just the second month past the year, and we already had the great opportunity to experience the cultural richness of South-East Europe during Bozar’s SEE Festival in Brussels, with a diverse line-up that samples the cultural wealth of the region, including some of our favourite MOST supported artists with multiple cultural influences such as Perija, and Divanhana.

The concerts of Perija, and Divanhana were both beyond amazing, and we are extremely proud to have them in our wonderful MOST family. We wish everyone to experience the magic of their music once in the upcoming years!

We also had The MOST Music – Festival & Club Exchange meeting at SEE Festival, where we met with 16 festival representatives from the Balkans and Europe who will visit each other and propose and invite bands for the 2023 festival season with the support of MOST. The Festival & Club Exchange participants of the latest round hang out together for two days, with professional activities during the day and See Fest concerts and pub crawls in the evening.

The cherry on top of the already great SEE experience was the MOST networking Reception, where nearly 50 policy-makers, diplomats and journalists attended to learn more about MOST’s mission and initiatives and to discuss the current issues of the music market of Europe and the Balkans. Fortunately, the overall feedback was very supportive of the project, and as we have a good reputation in this circle, we honestly felt they wished us the best of luck in achieving our future goals. 

In addition to the internal networking, there were some great Brussels-themed activities we got to take part in, like visiting the European Parliament. We also had a meeting with Jasna Jelisic, the Head of the Western Balkans Task Force at the European External Action Service. Moreover, we’ve seen some very informative presentations on mobility and project funding tools by Marie Fol, President of On the Move, the international network dedicated to cultural mobility, Kathrin Deventer, the Secretary General of the European Festivals Association and Dora Czifra, representative of the International dimension of the Creative Europe programme at the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission.

Overall SEE Festival is all about music, discussions and cinema devoted to the contemporary cultures of South-Eastern Europe, off the beaten track and away from clichés. MOST is about building a bridge connecting the Balkans and the global music market, a bridge made up of personal connections, experience and exchange. SEE’s credo is very similar, and we are grateful to be a part of their story of bringing the Balkans closer to Europe. We are also happy to support them in their mission to present contemporary South-East Europe cultures that are groundbreaking and far removed from stereotypes in Brussels,  the heart of Europe.