About the project

Europareise is an international platform for networking, matchmaking and creativity for festivals from Europe and beyond.
In 2008 this unique project brought over 200 representatives of 70 European festivals from 27 different countries to Cologne.

Europareise offers the opportunity of meeting up with colleagues, friends and top experts to exchange information and build co-operations for the European festival, music and media market.

With 5 days of music, 20 conference events, 25 venues, 50 concerts, 75 exhibitors and 200 international artists, c/o pop established itself as one of the most beloved and important pop culture festivals in Europe and evolved into an internationally
recognized congress for the creative industries.
Europareise is a major project in the heart of c/o pop. As a strong link between Festival & Convention it pervades the whole programme and connects everything and everyone with each other.

Background

In 2007, when c/o pop launched Europareise for the first time, the project focussed on presenting the programmes of the various festivals in question, while in 2008 c/o pop wanted to extend and consolidate the network built up over the past years by putting a major focus on the people that work behind the scenes of
the festival sector.
It then became an international summit meeting for Europe's festival organizers - a unique meeting that put the networking idea, the exchange of information and intensive cooperation in the spotlight. More festivals than ever were taking part in 2008. A whole range of new countries, from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia in particular, had been added to the list. Parallel to this, c/o pop was exploring a wide range of Europe-specific topics in the form of readings and panel discus-
sions.

Europareise & c/o pop Convention

The Pop Culture 2.0 Convention is c/o pop`s brandnew business forum for the creative industries. But it´s not just another music convention. It is for everyone who has a stake and a belief in the future of music. It's for investors, musicians and business people. As a high-quality think-tank for pop culture the convention
builds bridges and opens gates for exchange.
All Europareise participants are offered free access to the Convention.

Europareise & c/o pop Festival

As an Europareise participant you are also invited to attend the c/o pop Festival 2009.
The Europareise project itself will be represented in the music programme in form of major concerts, parties and showcases set up by our partner festivals.
2000 year old city of Cologne is sited in the very heart of Europe. It is well known for its liberal atmosphere and cheerful mentality. Around 1 million people live in the region of Cologne. During five days, traditionally in mid August, c/o pop unfolds its unique and vibrant spirit throughout the whole city and attracts a lively local scene as well as international artists and visitors from all around the world.

The festival represents every facet of music and pop culture and has grown to become one of the most important events in Germany's cultural calendar. In 2008 c/o pop notched up 30,000 visitors. They were offered 5 days of music, 25 venues, 50 concerts and 200 international artists. Musically it started out as a platform for electronic club music, strongly linked to the famous »Sound of Cologne«, but also reflects contemporary trends in the indie pop and rock scene as well as HipHop, Jazz or more experimental and leftfield kind of music.

It is widely renowned for its fine mixture between up & coming artists and big names. Some of today's most famous bands in the independent sector played here first. Artists who have performed over the last five years include Franz Ferdinand, M.I.A., Phoenix, DAF, Mouse on Mars, Art Brut, Burger/Voigt, Maxïmo Park, Richie Hawtin, Dinosaur Jr., Arcade Fire, Crystal Castles ...
In 2009 the c/o pop headquarters will move to a new and quite unusual location in the centre of the city.

INTERNATIONAL VISITORS PROGRAMME

A new cooperation between NRW KULTURsekretariat and Europareise c/o pop.

Within the framework of International Cultural Relations, the NRW KULTURsekretariat organises an international visitors programme for artists, cultural politicians, cultural promoters, journalists and other opinion leaders from all over the world, starting in summer 2009. Through personal exchange with potential partners in North Rhine-Westphalia and international guests, visitors can extend their networks, develop cross border projects and build transregional co-operations.

The programme starts on Wednesday 12 August with a meeting of rock and pop promoters from the Netherlands and North Rhine-Westphalia and the international festival representatives of c/o pop¹s Europareise. The meeting will be supported by the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The NRW KULTURsekretariat is a public, intercommunal cultural grants initiative of the major cities and a regional association in North Rhine-Westphalia. Within the scope of International Cultural Relations it supports - in close collaboration with the federal state and the cities - international culture in North Rhine-Westphalia and North Rhine-Westphalian culture abroad.

Programme & Topics 2009

Europareise & Creative industries

New Ideas. New People. New Music. Meet & greet at the c/o pop Convention, a business forum for the creative industries. As said before c/o pop is not just another music convention. We don't have attendees. We have participants. As a high-quality think-tank for the future of pop culture it builds bridges and opens gates for exchange.
c/o pop is a place to listen and to argue. It's a place to be rational and passionate.
At c/o pop you network with people who care and people who matter. For all Europareise members c/o pop offers intensive matchmaking with exciting labels, powerful distributors and interesting music & business people from all around the world.
2008 the forum attracted 1.000 participants from the creative industries.

Europareise Matchmaking

This year, the Europareise programme features for the first time an international matchmaking scheme involving 18 festivals from Europe, Canada, Mexico, India, Vietnam and China. c/o pop is offering a new network platform and making the extensive contacts of the Europareise project available to all those participating. Label operators, bookers, agents and other protagonists from the music and creative industries will thus be able to hook up with potential partners quickly and simply, and existing contacts can be developed and maintained.

Participating festivals and promoters 2009: by:Larm (Oslo, Norway), c.sides (Tel Aviv, Israel), Electron Festival (Geneva, Switzerland), MELT! and Berlin Festival (Gräfenhainichen/Berlin, Germany), Pomladi (Ljubljana, Slovenia) (tbc), Spot (Aarhus, Denmark), Iceland Airwaves (Reykjavik, Iceland), Numusic (Stavanger, Norway), Spring (Graz, Austria), Wilsonic (Bratislava, Slovakia), Amsterdam Dance Event (Amsterdam, Netherlands), The Great Escape (Brighton, UK), Mutek (Montreal, Canada), Mutek (Mexico City, Mexico), Pop Montréal (Montreal, Canada), SXSW (Austin Texas), Whisper Festival (Shenzen, China), Hanoi Sound Stuff (Hanoi, Vietnam), Global Groove (Delhi, India), Migz (Moskau, Russland)

Europareise & European Union

The European Union has declared 2009 to be the Year of Creativity and Innovation. c/o pop, festival of pop culture and international gathering for members of the creative industry in Cologne, welcomes this political initiative, which ties in neatly with the topics up for discussion at this year's c/o pop Convention.
With areas of emphasis including the rapid move towards a knowledge and information society, the digitalisation of consumer goods, questions of copyright and culture production in the tug of war between art and profitability, and ultimately the discrepancy between European and national guidelines and directives in this area, the Year of Creativity and Innovation also draws explicit attention to the central role of policy.
c/o pop will discuss these and other cultural policy related conflicts from different European perspectives and will try to offer possible solutions. The panel »Brüssel 2.0« for instance will bring together European experts from politics and economy with artists and consumers to risk a critical look at the prevailing structures and to analyse their consequences.

Europareise & Beyond

The world is becoming a smaller place and Europareise sets off to explore new areas. In other words: Europareise is becoming ever more international and growing beyond the borders of Europe.
After the successful co-operation with musicians, labels and promoters from Southeast-Asia, Australia and New Zealand, this year festivals and representa-tives from China and India as well as USA and Mexico shall take part for the first time and are invited to participate in c/o pop and Europareise in order to extend the network.


EUROPAREISE IS FUNDED BY INITIATIVE MUSIK

Partner Europareise