The Estonian capital, Tallinn, has been chosen to host the European Design Festival in June 2022.
The festival consists of exhibitions, talks, design walks, workshops, conferences, social events and the European Design Awards, also known as the ED-Awards, gala. The festival’s mission is to celebrate European design, facilitate designers to meet, be inspired and build networks, but also to help promote the design discipline to wider audiences.
The centrepiece of the festival, the ED-Awards, is a joint initiative of design magazines from across Europe and endorsed by the International Council of Design. The awards, presented to European designers for outstanding work, are judged by a panel of representatives – journalists and design critics – from fifteen European design magazines.
Nordic design culture
“We always go for cities that have a vibrant design scene but, at the same time, are the kind of destinations that people are excited to visit,” Demetrios Fakinos, the European Design Festival director, said in a statement. “Tallinn is such a place: an attractive, innovative city that is immersed in the great Nordic design culture. I’m sure that with the help of our local partner, the Estonian Design Centre, we will offer an inspiring event that will make everyone happy to attend.”
“We believe that European Design Awards Festival has a significant impact on local design community, as well as helps us spread the word about the impact of design in our society generally,” the head of the Estonian Design Centre, Tiia Vihand, said in a statement.
The European Design Festival has since 2007 been hosted in Athens, Stockholm, Zurich, Rotterdam, Vilnius, Helsinki, Belgrade, Cologne, Istanbul, Vienna, Porto, Oslo, Warsaw and Valencia.
Cover: The Tallinn Creative Hub building in Tallinn, Estonia. The image is illustrative. Photo by Kultuurikatel.
