Fresh Green Fest is a regional project focused on strengthening cooperation, sustainability, and professional exchange within the electronic music and festival scene in the Western Balkans. Through live events, peer-to-peer learning, strategic partnerships, and targeted promotion, the project supports new models of festival organisation, audience development, and international cultural collaboration.
The central festival event took place in Banja Luka on 7–8 June 2025, bringing together artists, festival organisers, and cultural professionals from across the region. Hosted across two vibrant public venues, Dom Omladine and Kuća Milanovića, the programme combined music, discussion, and hands-on exchange, creating space not just for audiences, but for meaningful professional connection and learning.
The festival featured international headliner Jay Lumen from Hungary, alongside regional artists DJ Jock and Vuk Vukosavljević. Together, they shaped a dynamic programme that blended performance with conversation, offering insights into audience engagement, event production, and the evolving electronic music scene in the region.
At its core, Fresh Green Fest placed strong emphasis on peer-to-peer exchange. Through panels and workshops, participants explored how festivals shape cities, how narratives are built, and what happens behind the scenes of cultural production. These conversations continued beyond the live event through recorded online sessions, creating a lasting resource for organisers, artists, and cultural workers.
Sustainability was also an important part of the festival approach. From reducing single-use plastics to collaborating with local partners, the project introduced practical steps toward more environmentally responsible event production, while also encouraging dialogue on how festivals can contribute to greener cultural practices.
The project further strengthened regional connections by collaborating with music festivals and organisations across Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. These partnerships helped expand the festival’s reach while building a stronger, more connected cultural network across the Western Balkans.
By bringing together music, knowledge-sharing, and collaboration, Fresh Green Fest highlights how festivals can go beyond entertainment, becoming platforms for learning, exchange, and long-term development of the cultural scene.
Implementing partners: Fresh Wave (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ostani Zelen (Serbia).
Fresh Green Fest was supported by the British Council through the “Culture and Creativity for the Western Balkans” project, funded by the European Union. CC4WBs aims to foster dialogue in the Western Balkans by enhancing the cultural and creative sectors for increased socio-economic impact.