Category: Culture

Athens – All the city’s a stage

Athens is using culture to boost the city’s recovery after corona. Already at the beginning of the lockdown, the municipality invited artists through an open call to suggest events for the special situation under the pandemic. More than 600 proposals from all cultural sectors – arts, music, theatre, performances, dancing, cinema, literature – were made and are forming a comprehensive programme now, including Culture@Home with live streamings, writers’ videos (“Stay Home with the Authors”) and live events under the corona restrictions. The city coordinates the activities and provides free support for streaming and publicity, and even the Athens City Hall was opened for smaller cultural events. You can find the full programme here

Contact: Dimitris Konstantopoulos

Beşiktaş – Keep calm and relax

The “Anti-Stress Campaign”, which was launched by Beşiktaş Municipality in July, with its motto “Beşiktaş Will Heal”, continues with stage shows. Free theater shows and stand-up performances will be held in the local parks of Beşiktaş every weekend until mid-September. Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat invited all residents to the events.

Continue reading “Beşiktaş – Keep calm and relax” →

Bristol – Are you listening?

© Rising Arts Agency

#WhoseFuture is a new creative collaboration by Rising Arts Agency, Out of Hand and Bristol City Council to amplify diverse creative voices throughout Bristol. It will showcase works from 40 young creatives on Bristol’s billboards, giving a platform to the city’s voices while also asking questions about its future. The campaign is in response to Black Lives Matter, as well as inequalities suffered by young people and the impact on them of the Covid-19 lockdown. You can click on the hashtag #WhoseFuture and read more here

Contact: Paul Davies

Glasgow – After the Pandemic creative summer school

Glasgow’s initiative to bring together Glasgow City Council and its creative community to look at Life After the Pandemic saw the end of its first phase today.

Lateral North, a Glasgow research and design collective who have collaborated with Arctic and Nordic partners, are curating an initiative involving a Summer School. In partnership with the Design Weans, a Glasgow based creative networking organisation, the creative community were asked to develop ideas regarding how we bounce forward, not back, and the themes of environment, sustainability, health (including mental) and community. The Showcase will occur this evening, Thursday 09 July 20:00 (CET). You can register here.

Continue reading “Glasgow – After the Pandemic creative summer school” →

Cardiff – ‘Out of Doors’ online digital arts festival

Cardiff is looking for creative ways to entertain people in lockdown, and Cardiff-based Arts Active have come up with a digital arts festival that people can enjoy whilst staying safe and socially distanced at home. ‘Out of Doors’ will provide free access to online activities and will include artist-led activities and mini projects to encourage people of all ages, not just kids, to be at one with nature whilst learning in a creative and fun way.

Continue reading “Cardiff – ‘Out of Doors’ online digital arts festival” →

Bratislava – Overview of measures for culture

Bratislava quickly reacted to confinement with online broadcasts of theatre plays, concerts from windows and balconies, as well as cultural activities in hospitals. Read the full overview or Bratislava’s measures for culture here and more on the original article by Vlado Grežo and Pavol Demeš here (in Slovak)

Contact: Petra Dzurovcinova

Cardiff – Virtual Food and Drink Festival

Cardiff going online with its popular Cardiff Food and Drink Festival. The Cardiff Food and Drink Festival will launch a new website www.cardifffoodanddrinkfestival.com  tomorrow at midday, to run throughout July. 

Visitors will find recipes, music and an online market place where a range of local and international food and drink can be ordered directly from the people who make them – things like cakes, marinades, flavoured oils, preserves, specialty gins and cider. More information here.

Contact: Beverley Watson

Bologna – Your neighbourhood, a cultural centre

Copyright: city of Bologna

Bologna will organise affordable initiatives throughout the summer investing every courtyard and every square. Citizens will be able to meet and stay together respecting security measures. ‘Bologna Estate’ will have a wide offer of screenings, performances and concerts in addition to traditional museums and tourist attractions, and to bring culture in every corner of the city, each neighbourhood will turn into a culture venue hosting small theatre performances, mobile storytellers, monologues and much more. Read more here and here (in Italian)

Contact: Micaela Merli

Cardiff – Visit the city from home

Join The Big Walk in July, book online courses at the Summer School of Cardiff University and order your favourite Sri Lanka dish from The Coconut Tree – all through the ‘From Home’ project by the ‘Visit Cardiff’ team, showcasing the city’s most exciting lockdown activities. Visitors and residents can explore them here 

Contact: Beverley Watson

Cardiff – Celebrating the creativity of Wales

The annual Tafwyl festival celebrating Welsh language and culture will be live streamed this Saturday, 20 June, through AM, an online platform sharing creative work from Wales’ cultural scene. Along with live music, several of Tafwyl’s usual offerings will be provided, including Q&As, literature sessions and children’s workshops. Leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Huw Thomas, said: “Of course the pandemic means the festival can’t go ahead with the huge crowds that it has attracted over the past few years, but by opening up Cardiff Castle for this live broadcast, I hope it will remind everyone of the great times the’’ve had there in the past, will give them a real buzz on the day, and whet their appetite for its full return next year.” You can read more here and follow the festival here, where you also can download the app

Contact: Beverley Watson

Guimarães – Culture is back with security and trust

Guimarães is reopening some of its cultural institutions, including ‘The Workshop’ which has designed an exceptional programme for exceptional times. Cultural events during June and July will be staged on patios, gardens and museum rooms with a programme of performing arts, visual art and training. To take ensure the safety of audiences and performers, the scale, security and context of each cultural event have been carefully considered. More information (in Portuguese) here.

Contact Adelina Pinto.

Vilnius – Holiday!

Residents of Lithuania can travel around the world by visiting their capital, Vilnius, this summer. While travelling abroad will be limited in this holiday season, communities of the city, tour and event organisers, restaurants, hotels and artists have teamed up to create an exotic experience at home. The project is expected to help businesses that have lost tourist traffic due to the corona restrictions. The programme starts next weekend, 5-7 June, with Italy in Vilnius, followed by India and the USA. You can read more here

Contact: Jurga Pociūtė-Mikūtienė

Brno – Support for businesses


Brno is supporting the areas of business that have been most affected, such as gastronomy and tourism & culture, and has also approved complex measures for businesspeople. It provides easier administration of permits for the outdoor areas of restaurants, and it also suggests that the establishment of these areas should be done at no extra cost to the proprietor.

© Brno City Municipality
Continue reading “Brno – Support for businesses” →

Sofia – Open air summer programme

20 outdoor stages for concerts and performances in parks, movie screenings under the stars – some of the things Sofia has planned for the summer culture programme, after the corona lockdown. Also the zoo, the city library and the Regional History Museum will be open, yet all with a maximum capacity of 30%. You can read more here (in Bulgarian).

Contact: Sevdalina Voynova

Karlsruhe – Music for Europe Day

Karlsruhe marked Europe Day with a performance of Ode to Joy from the city’s balconies and windows. Four musicians of the Karlsruhe City Youth Orchestra at the town hall, members of the Badische Staatskapelle at the Baden State Theater and five groups in different locations in the Grötzingen district supported this expression instrumentally. A simultaneous performance took place in Karlsruhe’s twin city Nancy to mark 65 years of friendship, as well as Nancy’s other twin city, Lublin.

Continue reading “Karlsruhe – Music for Europe Day” →

Dusseldorf – Summer@home

Since many families and citizens have cancelled travel plans and will most probably spend the summer at home, a new initiative has been presented by the city of Dusseldorf: ‘Summer at home’. Sport, culture and family activities shall form a holiday programme, following the hygiene regulations, presented on a dedicated website. The city has initiated a round table with organisers and is now calling for event offers. You can read more here (in German)

Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld

Vilnius – Empty restaurant seats for fashion mannequins

Restaurants of Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, are using social distancing rules to become fashion displays for local designers. As of this week, the country has eased the restrictions on bars, cafes and restaurants to allow them to operate indoors, yet strict social distancing remains in place. The indoor restaurant tables that otherwise must be kept empty will therefore be used for mannequins to demonstrate this season’s fashion. You can read more here

Contact: Jurga Pociūtė-Mikūtienė

Guimaraes – Call for culture

The municipality of Guimaraes invites artists to propose special creative projects for the corona crisis. The idea is to develop a programme of community work and cultural activities to reconnect creators, public and community. Up to ten projects will be financed with a maximum total amount of €50,000. Applications are welcome until 5 June. You can read more here (in Portuguese)

Contact: Sérgio Gonçalves

Vienna – Guidelines for safe reopening of the cultural sector

Vienna has drawn up a “Guide for the Cultural Industries” in cooperation with medical experts and cultural practitioners. The rules foreseen in the guidelines could already apply in June. However, in order for them to be implemented and for theatres or concert halls to be able to restart, a federal ordinance or amendment to the law is needed.

Councillor Kaup-Hasler with Marijana Stoisits of the Vienna Film Commission – Copyright: Katharina Schiffl
Continue reading “Vienna – Guidelines for safe reopening of the cultural sector” →

Vienna – Overview of measures for safe and inclusive recovery

Vienna has taken an approach of cautious exit and inclusive recovery as the country is slowly going back to ‘normal’. The updated overview highlights measures with regard to a smooth and safe running of city services, from childcare and schools to health and social services, support for the local economy and unemployed citizens and much more. It also contains a survey that shows that the city’s crisis management was positively received by the population. You can download the document here.

Contact: Michaela Kauer or stay up to date at @Stadt_Wien

Madrid – €7.5 million for culture

Madrid’s ‘Applaud Madrid’ plan will augment the city’s cultural budget, which remains uncut, with at further €7.5 million to avoid the closure of cultural spaces and institutions. Theaters will receive €1.9 million, cinemas €1.2 million, live music venues €1.3 million and theater, dance and circus companies €530,000. These grants will cover the costs of supplies and rent from March to September. All future beneficiaries of these grants must commit themselves not to close these spaces for at least one year after the end of the pandemic.

Continue reading “Madrid – €7.5 million for culture” →

Vilnius – Recovery plan allocates €1 million to culture

Vilnius has a plan for recovery, the ‘Vilnius’ Plan 4×3’. The plan includes aid measures focused on aids to: individuals, businesses, and culture. The plan also wants to embrace opportunities, and it lists proposals addressed to the national government that will enable local governments to tackle the effects of the crisis. Culture will be a priority for Vilnius, as the plan allocates around 1 million EUR to the sector. Read more here

Contact: Jurga Pociūtė-Mikūtienė

Bilbao – 50 ways to fight the crisis

The city council of Bilbao has approved an action plan worth €15 million, to address the urgent needs resulting from the corona pandemic. More than 50 measures, agreed upon by all political parties, deal with economy and employment, social cohesion and culture. The focus is on people and companies, especially small local businesses, hotels and restaurants, tourism and the cultural and creative sector. You can download an English briefing of the plan here and read more here (in Spanish)

Contact: Alazne Zugazaga

Nantes – Archiving lockdown

Nantes is encouraging citizens to archive their experience of lockdown to preserve its value for future researchers. This includes photos, texts, drawings and more. The Nantes Archives are launching a collection from the inhabitants in order to preserve the memory of the health crisis linked to the coronavirus and to set up a memorable collection of private archives whose preservation and access for researchers will be guaranteed by the community. In the longer term, the city will reflect on how to show this major collection. More information (in French) here.

Contact : Doris Abela

Nantes – Culture at home

Nantes is reinforcing the availability of culture in resident’s homes. Measures include:

  • Enhancement of existing digital offers: books and reading, films, music, history, heritage, archives, archaeology, sciences, art history, live performances, etc.
  • Creation of new services and new content by cultural institutions
  • Collecting proposals from the territory’s cultural players in: dance, cinema, music, literature, writing, reading, comic strips, visual arts, theatre, multidisciplinary projects, debate of ideas, CSTI, etc.

As a result, Nantes has seen + 83% of subscribers to the Facebook page of the Conservatory and + 82% for the page on the collections of the Arts Museum. More information (in French) here.

Contact : Doris Abela

Cardiff – Online library

A range of digital resources are available from Cardiff Hubs & Libraries Service for people to enjoy at home during the corona lockdown.  The service has free e-books, e-audio books, e-magazines, e-newspapers and ancestry resources that library members can access from their own devices. Cardiff residents who aren’t currently members can also join up online. You can read more here

Contact: Beverley Watson

Lublin – Summer festival in autumn

“As many of us have spent several weeks at home, it cannot have escaped us how fundamental culture is to us”, states the city of Lublin, Poland, on its website. “Whether watching a film, listening to music, enjoying an online museum tour or simply reading a book, culture matters so much to our everyday lives.” Lublin had to cancel or postpone many cultural events due the corona pandemic, other offerings went online. You can get an overview here

Contact: Roman Jaborkhel

Dusseldorf – Live tv talk with the mayor

video in German only – German subtitles available in settings

Dusseldorf’s mayor Thomas Geisel is hosting a weekly talkshow, ‘Corona Talks’, where he discusses the local impact of the pandemic with guests and answers questions from citizens. The videos are available on the city’s YouTube channel

Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld

Dusseldorf – Reopening culture & arts

Step by step, and with special regulation, museums and other cultural institutions in Dusseldorf, Germany, are opening again after the corona lockdown. The number of visitors is limited and hygiene measures have to be obtained. It is recommended to wear a mask. You can read more here (in German) about the institutions already open and here about the next ones to follow. Also the municipal music school, which went to online lessons during the lockdown, opened its doors again. And the department of culture, in cooperation with local artists, has handed out 600 ‘Art Bags’ with materials and instructions for making crafts and arts to kindergartens and refugee homes.

Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld

Pau – Cultural survival kit

How to get the dose of culture you need to live during the corona lockdown? The city of Pau is offering ‘cultural survival kits’ online, with new programmes every week: resources to cultivate, entertain and think of something else while fighting the coronavirus. You can find the first four editions here, here, here and here (in French)

Contact: Valérie Demangel

Haarlem – Virtual museum

The Teylers Museum in Haarlem (Netherlands) is physically closed due to corona, but the museum is virtually open. Visit the museum from your own living room, wander through the building and discover the collection in detail. Children have dedicated tips available for nice activities and the stories of the employees of the Teylers Museum. The museum also gives live tours via Instagram, the recordings of these Teylers Home Tours can be viewed on YouTube. Read more here (in Dutch)

The starting point for the virtual visit to The Teylers Museum

Contact: Valentina Schippers

Nantes – €1 million for culture

Nantes has set up an emergency fund of €1 million to support cultural structures and professionals. The fund focuses on supporting the most vulnerable and threatened cultural entities in Nantes. It wants to preserve the city’s cultural diversity and reinforce the economic impact of culture in times of crisis. Read more here (in French)

Contact: Nicolas Joffraud

Mannheim – Culture for safety

Mannheim, UNESCO City of Music, together with the Enjoy Jazz Festival, launched the social media campaign “weRculture” on April 1, backed by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). Since then, more than 100 artists and creative workers have participated and contributed creative videos that call upon the viewer to stay at home, think respectfully and act responsibly in this time of crisis. More information on this global call here.

Contact: Nelly Saemann


A Special Europe Day – Cities sing together in solidarity

“Our Europe stands for togetherness and solidarity across borders, also and especially in times of global crisis” – that’s the message of European city leaders for Europe Day on 9 May 2020. In a joint video message, mayors of 14 European cities call for solidarity and emphasise the role of cities which are working together and helping each other.

To celebrate Europe Day, the cities, all members of the network EUROCITIES, sing together the European anthem, ‘Ode to Joy’ from Ludwig van Beethoven and Friedrich Schiller. Singers from each city join from home, due to the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic, and form a European choir.

The cities participating are: Bologna, Bonn, Braga, Budapest, Edinburgh, Espoo, Florence, Ghent, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Leuven, Nicosia, Pau, Pesaro, Stuttgart, Tampere, Valladolid, Vienna

Glasgow – Virtual outdoor education

The team at the Glasgow City Council’s Blairvadach Outdoor Education Centre in Rhu have produced an online workbook which could help parents and children to learn about outdoor education during lockdown.

The centre normally hosts a five day outdoor education residential for pupils from across the city, providing outdoor learning opportunities for young people using activities including hillwalking, canoeing, rock climbing and more. Katie Mackay an Outdoor Education Instructor from Blairvadach said: “Because of Covid-19 and lockdown many schools are missing out on their planned trip which is a big disappointment for the pupils

Contact: Joe Brady

Glasgow – Science centre at home

As the weeks go on children and adults are looking for ways to stay entertained at home. The Glasgow Science Centre is continuing to share an exciting programme of lessons online. 

Each day the team from #GSCAtHome are sharing a video with an experiment or task. This week includes ‘The Monty Hall’ problem, making oboes from straws and using coat hangers to learn more about soundwaves! In 2020, as our world becomes more and more invested in digital technology, we need more than ever to crack codes and to write them.

Contact: Joe Brady

Sultanbeyli – Playing safe

‘’Fast and Clean’’ is the game that Sultanbeyli Municipality has designed for the families to play at home while educating their kids on safe habits during the pandemic. Games will be delivered to the first 1000 families who participate in the campaign to be held on corporate social media channels. Read more here (in Turkish)

Contact: Ferzan Aşik

Kartal/Istanbul – Recycled entertainment

During the Covid epidemic Kartal Municipality is helping citizens to recycle and reuse old materials to create handmade decorative or household materials. Within the scope of the Environmental Protection and Control Directorate – that recycling textile waste since 2016 – textile piggy banks are placed at various points in Kartal District, and citizens are encouraged to put their old clothes and fabrics in. Now the municipality is producing Youtube videos to teach their citizens to use those materials and find an indoor entertainment.

Contact: Hüseyin Güler

Beşiktaş – New educative channel

The Beşiktaş Academy has started offering online classes launching its new Youtube channel. This initiative from the Beşiktaş Municipality has been helping students prepare for high school and university education and also supporting the personal development of our citizens aged 7-90 through culture and art courses. This service will not only enable students who are preparing for their exams to continue studying their lessons but also give citizens the option to learn at any age. Visit the Youtube channel here

Contact: foreignaffairs@besiktas.bel.tr

Leeds – Museums and galleries go digital

Leeds Museums and Galleries are giving residents the chance to travel back in time and explore thousands of years of history from home thanks to a new series of online digital discovery sessions. This includes hosting a series of online videos examining artefacts from the Leeds Discovery Centre, which is home to more than a million objects from prehistory, Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire. Visitors also have the opportunity to choose which objects will be covered by the online sessions by voting for their object of choice via a Facebook poll. Visit the site initiative here

Contact: Titus Carey

Leeds – ‘Posters for the People’

The city wants to show its support for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) staff and key workers with a colourful street art campaign called ‘Posters for the People’.

The project, led by the street art movement, In Good Company, and supported by Leeds City Council, has seen over 150 sites across the city transformed into colourful designs to spread positivity and show support to all those keeping the country running during this challenging time.

In good company
Continue reading “Leeds – ‘Posters for the People’” →

Milan – A new start

To support the gradual reopening of the city after the coronavirus lockdown, the city of Milan has launched the campaign ‘A new start. One step at a time’, inviting citizens to respect the rules in this phase. A video, narrated by the Italian singer Ghali, shows the city of these weeks of isolation and five citizens who are getting ready to leave their homes for a new start. You can read more here

Contact: Olimpia Vaccarino Aureli

Besiktas – Online parade on Children’s Day

The municipality of Besiktas, Istanbul, has shared a video with a digital version of the traditional parade on Turkey’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day on 23 April. Every year, this holiday is celebrated by children with various activities. Due to the corona pandemic, it was decided to digitalise the celebration. Parents were invited to send photos of their children for a digital parade which was shared via social media.

Contact: foreignaffairs@besiktas.bel.tr

Vilnius – Mask Fashion Week

Mask Fashion Week opening ceremony in Vilnius. Photo by Go Vilnius

The streets of Vilnius are currently dotted with giant photos of people wearing protective masks made in creative way. The images are part of a new project called Mask Fashion Week, which drew its inspiration from members of a Facebook group known as Mask Your Fashion. Unlike a traditional fashion week, the project is open to everyone: the city streets have become a runway. While still adhering to safety recommendations, audiences are invited to travel the Mask Fashion Week route through the city by foot or in their cars and reflect on the role and look of the new accessory that has unexpectedly become part of our day-to-day lives. The city’s outdoor advertising stands now feature photos of masked project participants with the slogan ‘Creativity Cannot be Masked’. You can read more here

Katowice – Culture Package

Artists and other cultural workers and organisations in Katowice, Poland, can get financial support by the city during the corona pandemic. Artists who have lost income as a result of the lockdown measures can apply for a grant. Cultural organisations renting municipal office spaces will be exempted from rent until it is possible to resume their normal work. The city will also ask private property owners to reduce rents for artists. Artists and cultural organisations paying property taxes will be exempted from this tax as well as from the waste disposal charge. Katowice has reserved €110,000 for the support package and had consulted local artists and city councillors in advance for the design. You can read more here (in Polish)  

Contact: Judyta Etmanska

Ljubljana – Expansion of library services

Ljubljana’s city library is offering a postal service for students and high schoolers seeking study material. This is further facilitated by a wide array of online material, including films and documentaries, and an easy remote registration.

For children and their parents as activities include listening to or reading fairy tales, taking quizzes, drawing and solving riddles. Videos of past cultural events are also available on the library’s YouTube channel.

Contact: Polona Novak

Cardiff – Chapter from home

Cardiff’s historic multi-artform venue Chapter presents: ‘Chapter from home’. The initiative offers fun film study, a Young Reporter’s Club, Watch parties, Instagram quizzes and much more, finding new ways to experience the arts. Chapter also organises educational activities with children, for example the ‘News Reporter’s Club’. This initiative empowers them to make their own radio news show about the world they see around them using only pen, paper and a mobile phone. Read more here

Contact: Beverley Watson

Cardiff – Science at home

Techniquest, Cardiff’s science discovery centre, is hosting online science experiments that can be tried at home. People can bring science to life in their own homes by watching ‘How To’ videos and live demonstrations. The latest videos show how to make your own Lava Lamp or learn how to defy the laws of gravity. Viewers are also encouraged to share their own creations with the Techniquest team using the hashtag #TQatHome Read more here

Contact: Beverley Watson

Bologna – Rethinking museums

Museum of Industrial Heritage of Bologna

The emergency programme for the municipal museums in Bologna due to the corona lockdown is driving a general change, as the city expects. Museums are turning into culture hubs, involving new digital projects into the organic planning of culture and museum activities. The 13 municipal museums, covering archeology, ancient art, modern and contemporary art, music, industrial heritage and technical culture, history and memory, are developing a new digital narrative of the contents of their collections. You can read more here

Contact: Francesca Martinese

Glasgow – International art festival goes online

After Scotland’s biennial festival of contemporary visual art, Glasgow International (Gi), has been postponed until 2021 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, an online programme has been published. Artists including Jenkin van Zyl, Yuko Mohri, Alberta Whittle and Liv Fontaine have made new work for the digital programme, which also showcases works by artists Georgina Starr, Urara Tsuchiya and Sarah Forrest and an audio introduction by Festival Director Richard Parry. The full programme is freely accessible until 10 May at glasgowinternational.org

Contact: Joe Brady

Kartal/Istanbul – Children’s Day

Kartal made sure its children could still celebrate this year’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day and the 100th anniversary of the opening of Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The Kartal Children’s Council Special Session was moved online and Mayor Gökhan Yüksel met and listened to 20 children, representing their neighbourhoods. In addition, open deck busses took superheros and bands paying popular anthems and children songs on a tour of the district. The mayor payed a visit to the neighbourhood of 9-year-old twin sisters Nida and Eylül İlgöz to grant them their wish to celebrate together this day.

Contact: Hüseyin Güler

Dusseldorf – Doors closed, eyes and ears wide open

While Dusseldorf’s cultural institutions remain closed due to the corona pandemic, a wide range of free digital offers are available online: virtual museum tours, recordings of concerts and opera performances as well as hands-on activities and tutorials for children and young people. An overview of these programmes, updated regularly, can be found on the website of Dusseldorf‘s Cultural Department

Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld

Milan – Help for small cultural organisations

The city of Milan is implementing a special plan to make use of extra national funding in support of smaller and more fragile organisations in the performing arts sector which are not covered by the 20 million emergency fund of the Italian Minister of Culture. In preparation for the reopening of museums and libraries, planned from 18 May as part of the ‘phase 2’ post corona lockdown measures, Milan is working on a protocol to ensure special health and safety measures for workers and visitors. You can read more here (in Italian)

Contact: Olimpia Vaccarino Aureli

London – Emergency fund for music and arts

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has launched a new fund of emergency £2.3m (€2.6 million) to support culture and creative industries at risk due to the impact of the coronavirus. The money goes to grassroots music venues, LGBTQ+ venues, artist workspaces and independent cinemas. “Culture, creative industries and night time economy are so important to the fabric of our city”, said Sadiq Khan, “and they will play a key role in helping us to recover from this public health crisis.” You can read more here

Contact: Ian Catlow

Budapest – Waiting for you

“Budapest awaits!” is the message of a music and dance video, aimed at city residents and tourists. The film, created by the Budapest Festival and Tourism Center, shows the formerly cheerful and lively, but now empty city, waiting to see life returning to the streets and public spaces.

Budapest has also compiled a summary of measures the city has taken in the corona crisis. You can download the document here

Contact: Adrienn Magyar

Toulouse – Keeping culture alive

Toulouse metropole and Toulouse City Council are continuing to make many cultural offers free of charge online, but have further ensured that, for cancelled theatre shows, tickets can be refunded, and that engagement contracts with artists and technicians are honoured, even if work has not been carried out in full. Read more here

Contact: Isabelle Durou

Nice – May festival with window singing

The people of Nice will celebrate 1 May in a special way under corona conditions. The city has invited all citizens to their windows to sing, all together, the Nice anthem “Nissa La Bella“ at 11am on Friday. Usually, the arrival of spring is celebrated under the olive trees of the Jardin des Arènes de Cimiez. This year’s motto is “Make the May at home“, with activities going online. You can read more here (in French)

Contact: Jérôme Sieurin

Lisbon – Overview of cultural measures

Lisbon City Council has taken a range of extraordinary measures to protect culture. These include €200,000 in immediate support to the city’s Fado houses, as well as exemptions on rent payments for both cultural institutions and individual artists operating in municipal spaces. Read more here

Contact: Jose Pedro Gonçalves

Cardiff – For its youth

Cardiff has developed a website to support children and young people with emotional and mental health and wellbeing issues in this difficult and challenging time. The city also launched ‘The ‘Diff Diaries’, a platform giving youngsters and children the opportunity to document their activity, thoughts and feelings during the global pandemic by submitting video recordings, photo collages or written diary entries. Music education has also gone digital as Cardiff delivers music tuition, one to one lessons and rehearsals opportunities online. Read more here, here and here

Contact: Beverley Watson

Munich – Join European May

Munich invites all pro-European institutions, organisations and civil society groups, irrespective of their location, to submit their digital activities to their European May program. The city has not only transported Europe Day online, but it has extended it to the whole month of May. The city wants to use the occasion to send out a strong signal, that Europe stands together in a crisis. Join the celebration here

Contact: Jenny Paul

Bilbao – Actions for culture

Bilbao city council has undertaken a host of measures to give a boost to access to culture during confinement. These include publishing the city’s cultural agenda online; offering free access to thousands of digitised services through its libraries; and offering some virtual access to the Bilbao Guggenheim museum. Read more here

Contact: Alazne Zugazaga

Oulu – Virtual museum tour

The Kiss of the Sun, an exhibition of paintings by Ellen Thesleff currently at the Oulu Museum of Art, is now available as a virtual tour from the comfort of your home. All you need is a computer, tablet or smartphone with Internet connection to take the virtual tour consisting of a number of 360 degree panorama scenes. The virtual tour is available until 31 May 2020, and is free of charge for everyone. Read more here

Contact: Anne Rannali

Vilnius – Books delivered to your home

Vilnius has been delivering library books directly to homes during quarantine. Residents of Vilnius ordered more than 300 books to be sent to their homes in the first five hours of the opening of the service. Librarians have to move quickly and to deliver orders to readers along the specifically created routes. Orders can be placed once a week. The service is especially popular among seniors.

More information here.

Contact: Jurga Pociūtė-Mikūtienė

Vienna – Overview of measures (updated)

Vienna has compiled a summary of measures the city has taken in the coronavirus crisis. They include the areas health and social care, public services, help for the economy, housing and homelessness, arts and culture, communication and citizen engagement as well as a part on ‘life after the crisis’. You can download the document here.

Contact: Michaela Kauer or stay up to date at @Stadt_Wien

Chemnitz – Witnesses of history

The Chemnitz municipal archive initiated an exciting project under the title Chemnitz is resisting – my dream for tomorrow, where citizens are encouraged to leave their experiences, anecdotes and thoughts on these extraordinary times. Thus, this reflections will give the future generations a glimpse of what the city went through. Read more here (in German)

Contact: Pia Sachs

Chemnitz – Open air gallery

Art and paintings will be displayed around the city to make pedestrians’ experience more joyful. The art collection will come along with a website where citizens will be able to read information on the pieces. This initiative is also part of Chemnitz’s candidacy to be European Capital of Culture in 2025. Read more here (in German)

Contact: Pia Sachs

Ghent – Keeping festivals alive

After announcing that the biggest summer festival in Ghent is cancelled this year, the city declared it will pay the organisers up to 80% of the planned subsidy. They will receive 50% of the funding if they commit to participate in an opening event for the 2021 edition, and will receive 30% on top of that if they develop a creative alternative for the 2020 edition that respects health and security measures. To support other artists and initiatives that usually take place around the festival, Ghent has set aside 200,000 euros. Read more here

Contact: Els Uytterhoeven

Karlsruhe – Standing together on Europe Day

Ahead of Europe Day, Karlsruhe is asking its citizens to submit short, creative videos on the theme of ‘Karlsruhe in Europe: We stand together!’ replacing the planned outdoor event. On Europe Day itself, everybody is invited to perform the European anthem from their windows or balconies – other cities across Europe are welcome to join in as a sign of solidarity. Read more here (in German)

Contact: Regina Hartig

Karlsruhe – Local support

Karlsruhe has set up the platform #supportyourlocals enabling people to shop locally. Deliveries are done by bike or, for longer distances, by post. While keeping business alive, the UNESCO City of Media Arts offers a digital cultural programme to keep people engaged, as well as the ZKM Center of Media Arts, and numerous museums and galleries. Read more here and here (in German)

Contact: Regina Hartig

Sofia – Financial help for independent artists

“Solidarity in Culture” is the name of a new programme of Sofia Municipality to provide financial support for artists and cultural spaces in the Bulgarian capital. Independent artists can receive 1,000 BGN (€500) funding to implement and present online projects during May and June. Teams managing private cultural spaces can receive support of up to €5,000. A total of €200,000 will be provided to support independent artists and cultural operators. You can find more information here (in Bulgarian)

Contact: Sevdalina Voynova

Dusseldorf – Expanding online cultural offer

Düsseldorf’s cultural institutions are now offering even more services online. These include ‘Singpause’ – a concert taking place annually in the Düsseldorf Philarmonic Hall, where school chidren come together to sing songs which they have learnt during the year – is being held virtually via an online platform. Read (in German) more here.

The Municipal Education Center (Volkshochschule) offers digital courses so citizens can make a use of the time staying at home to learn new skills or languages. Read more (in German) here.

Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld

Edinburgh – Get stuck in when you’re stuck at home

From ‘Mummy Bubble’ to ‘Cosmic Kids Yoga’ – a series of fun and free online activities to keep residents of all ages active and busy during the coronavirus lockdown has been devised by one of Edinburgh’s Schools and Lifelong Learning officers. Callum Mcleod and colleagues came up with the idea of putting together activity packs for children, young people and families to use at home to keep them physically and mentally active during the lockdown. Read more here

Contact: Karen Lloyd

Nicosia – Overview of measures

The city of Nicosia, Cyprus, has compiled a summary of the municipality’s measures in the corona crisis, from confinement regulations over ‘solidarity baskets’ for the elderly to creative activities for kids, painting their vision of ‘Nicosia 2030’ while at home. The document also provides contact names for further information. You can download it here

Contact: Charis Theocharous

Vienna – Historical corona collection

The Wien Museum is inviting people to send photos of objects that portray the changes in their private and professional life due to this crisis. The pictures will form the collective memory of Vienna’s inhabitants about this moment in history and will be preserved for future generations. In the future, a selection of the objects will be incorporated into a physical collection at the Wien Museum. Read more here

Contact: Michaela Kauer or stay up to date at @Stadt_Wien