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TheElevate Festival is an annual festival that takes place around theSchloßberg inGraz, Austria. The aim of the festival is to create a better understanding of the most important issues of our time and to discuss groundbreaking alternatives, innovative projects, and various initiatives in the realm of civil society, social movements and dedicated activism.[1] Elevate combines contemporary music, art and political discourse. The organizational body is aNonprofit organization. All the discourse and film programme of the festival is free of charge.
The starting point for the idea to combine music and political discourse was the Exit-Space event on local cultural policy making in Graz in 2003.[2] In 2005 the concept was expanded into an international festival around the Schloßberg in Graz. The founders and organizers of the festival - Berhard Steirer, Daniel Erlacher and Roland Oreski - had the idea for the festival's name during a ride in the elevator up to the top of the Schloßberg.[3]
For the first time the Elevate Festival took place in 2005. In this year, everything had to do with "Independent People/Independent Movements".Jimmy Wales was an invited speaker at the Festival.[4]
In 2006, the topic of the festival was "Elevate the Debate". The discussions mainly dealt with free media, live video streaming and basic income.
The topic of 2007's Elevate Festival was "Elevate Democracy!" In 2007,Cynthia McKinney andDanny Schechter were at the festival in Graz.[5]
In 2008, "Elevate the Commons" was the theme of the festival.Percy Schmeiser was one of the guests.[6]
The festival was dedicated to the topic "Elevate the Crises" with guests such asAmy Goodman,Pat Mooney,Christian Felber,Raimund Löw orAnneliese Rohrer.[7]
The festival featured Mike Bonanno ofThe Yes Men andBill McKibben among others. The main theme was "Elevate the Civil Society".[8]
Johan Galtung,Mark Stevenson,Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed looked into the future to explore how to "Elevate the 21st Century".[9]
"Elevate the Apocalypse?": Christian Payne,Jacob Appelbaum, Polly Higgins and others discussed whether we need major catastrophes in order to tackle the challenges of our time.[10]
"Elevate Open Everything?" - guests likeJacob Appelbaum,Birgitta Jónsdóttir,Anne Roth discussed radical openness in technology, innovation, activism, and politics.[11]
To honour the 10th anniversary of the festival the theme "Elevate #10 – Discourse & Activism" invited scientists likeJohn Holloway, computer engineers likeMicah Lee and artists such asAntonino D'Ambrosio to draw lessons from the past and look into the future.[12]
"Elevate Creative Response!" - the 11th edition of the festival explored how creative thinking provides avenues to tackle current challenges.[13]
As a result of a European festival cooperation, the theme in 2016 was "We Are Europe" and focused on change processes in Europe. Among the guests were journalist and WikiLeaks activistSarah Harrison, the philosopherSrećko Horvat, and the French directorHind Meddeb.
The topic the 2017 edition was "Big data, quantification & algorithms - Who will be the decision-makers of the 21st century?".
The role of "Risk/Courage"[14] in the context of societal change will be highlighted during the 2018 festival. With a focus onwhistleblowing the controversialWikiLeaks founderJulian Assange will be among the speakers.[15]
The Elevate Festival 2019 explores and debates the concept of "Truth" with guests like animal rights activistPamela Anderson, poetNnimmo Bassey, and philosopherSrećko Horvat.
"Human Nature" and the relationship between humans, nature and technological development is the motto of the 2020 Elevate Festival. The philosopherAriadne von Schirach, the film makerDouglas Rushkoff and the activistElizabeth Wathuti are among the guests in the discourse program.[16]
Between 2012 and 2015, the Elevate Awards were granted to people, organizations, and initiatives which are actively working for social, ecological and/or economical justice. There were three categories: The International Elevate Award, the Elevate Award Steiermark for regional projects in Austria and the Elevate Artivism Award for the threshold between arts and activism.[17]
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