The actual YEMP programme starts for the YEMPers with a Training weekend during which they are offered team-building activities, workshops on different topics to help them discover the city, and some insight into how the festival works.

 

Examples of trainings include sessions on working in an intercultural context, teambuilding, how to set up a big team of 200 people within one week, event safety, how to apply for EU funding, how to design an event, preparing for difficult situations that may happen during the festival etc. Ideally the weekend could end with the YEMPers being informed about their tasks / positions in the festival organigramme and their heads of departments spending an evening with “their team” to get to know each other a bit before the beginning of the stressful preparation week

For details see example from 2018 under chapter 4 – in 2018 we added some further tasks connected to the STAMP project

 

On the Monday before the start of the festival the YEMPers then join the team and work on their specific tasks, partly also helping with last-minute tasks that may not be related to their specific position such as packing bags, sorting meal ticket, etc. During the preparatory week and during the festival itself, they can regularly speak to their coaches (who distribute the YEMPers among themselves so that each takes special care of half of the group, but both can speak with all YEMPers if needed.

 

The programme ends with an evaluation on the last day, where the YEMPers can also share their specific experience with the others, comment on the YEMP itself and give their input to the general evaluation of the festival.