Holger Jan Schmidt is one of Europe's leading players in the festival sector. Among various topics, he focuses particularly on the sustainability and social responsibility of festivals and events. Holger is General Secretary of YOUROPE - the European Festivals Association - the largest association of popular music festivals in Europe, with over 120 members from 30 European countries. Part of his duties involves project managing the international Take A Stand initiative and campaign for the live music sector, launched in 2017 to create a movement encouraging social cohesion in our society as well as promoting awareness and tolerance. He also heads the pan-European think tank GO Group (Green Operations Europe).
In early 2023, Holger was honored with two of the most prestigious awards he could have imagined. Holger received the "Award for Excellence & Passion" for his services to the European music festival industry at the European Festival Awards (EFA). He then received the Arthur Award "The Unsung Hero" from the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) in the "Industry Champion Award" category. Both awards were voted for by a jury of international festival directors and music industry representatives.
Holger contributes his expertise to various European-funded projects such as "3F - Future-Fit Festivals" (Creative Europe), "FUSION - Festivals as social innovation incubators" (Erasmus+), "FUTURE FESTIVAL TOOLS - green skills for event professionals" (Erasmus+), "GEX - Green Europe Experience" (Creative Europe). He is co-author of the book "stay SOUND & CHECK yourself", dealing with stress and mental health in the live music, festival and event industry.
