In the Hauptstadtfinanzierungsvertrag, the Federal Government and the State of Berlin agree to the future admission of the festival to institutional federal funding and to integrate it into the Berliner Festspiele
A decisive step for the future of the International Literature Festival Berlin (ILB): in the near future, the festival is to be transferred to institutional funding by the Federal Government and become part of the Berliner Festspiele. This perspective was agreed in the course of the negotiations on the Hauptstadtfinanzierungsvertrag between the Federal Government and the State of Berlin. Until then, funding through the Hauptstadtkulturfonds as part of its regular funding scheme remains secured.
«The ILB is one of the most important literature festivals in the world. We at the festival’s organizing body, the Peter-Weiss-Stiftung für Kunst und Politik e.V., warmly welcome the fact that, after more than 25 years of existence, it is now being institutionalized through its integration into the Berliner Festspiele. We thank the BKM and the Hauptstadtkulturfonds for its support to date and are proud of the considerable additional funding we have secured from sponsors and foundations. None of this would have been possible without the professionalism of the team, which has grown especially in recent years. The authors, too, have made the festival what it is: a unique opportunity for Berlin to be part of the diversity of this world. Until the festival exists as an independent programmatic pillar of the Festspiele, the Peter-Weiss-Stiftung e.V. will continue to accompany this process,» declare Barbara Wahlster (1. Vorsitzende) and Prof. Johannes Kister (2. Vorsitzender).
Festival director Lavinia Frey adds: «The ILB is heading into a secure future. We look forward to becoming part of the Berliner Festspiele’s festival family and hope for a boost in synergies and creativity. I thank the team, the board, and the members of the organizing body, all our partners, and in particular the BKM and the State of Berlin for their support. My greatest thanks go to all the authors who, for a quarter of a century, have made the festival what it is loved for: a place that celebrates literature and open discussion.»
Every year, the International Literature Festival Berlin brings more than 100 writers from around 40 countries as well as numerous contributors from literature, the arts, academia, and society to Berlin. With readings, conversations, debates, performances, and an extensive Young Program, it is an internationally recognized forum for contemporary literature, cultural exchange and social understanding.
You can find the press statement of the Berliner Festspiele here.
Press Contact
Dr. Dennis Kölling
Head of Communications
dennis.koelling@literaturfestival.com
+49 (0) 30 2787 86 42