The FestiSkills Hunters project is progressing steadily and achieving key milestones in training, mentoring, and participant engagement. The international programme, designed for women aged 40+ from rural and remote areas in Estonia and Finland, combines online learning, hands-on workshops, and practical festival experience.
Since May 2025, the project has successfully:
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Recruited motivated participants, with 23 women from the Lake Peipsi region in Estonia and 25 from Imatra, from Finland.
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Delivered the 8 modules of the programme, covering festival management, sustainability, marketing, finance, crisis management, and innovation.
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Launched mentoring and pilot project preparation, supporting participants in developing their own small- or medium-scale events.
The programme officially kicked off during the Saimaa Film Festival in Imatra, Finland (August 2025), where participants gained hands-on experience in festival logistics, marketing, and production roles. Online training sessions and follow-up workshops have continued successfully, and all training materials and recordings are available for participants.
With mentoring scheduled to begin in November 2025 and pilot projects underway, the project is on track to achieve its main goal: increasing the competitiveness of 30 women on the labour market through professional skills in festival and event management.
The lead partner of the project is the Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation and the Finnish partner is The Black & White Theatre Association. The project is funded by the Central Baltic Programme 2021–2027. The project duration is May 2025 to August 2026. More information about the project https://ctc.ee/activities-and-projects/running/festiskills-hunters
Contact: Ederi Ojasoo, project manager ederi.ojasoo@gmail.com