A transformative alliance: AFES Mental Health and Phe Festival work together toward a caring culture
At Phe Festival, we believe that culture isn't just heard, seen, or danced. It's also felt, shared, and transformed. That's why, in this 2025 edition, we're adding a new partnership that excites us as we build a more inclusive, empathetic, and transformative cultural space: we're collaborating with AFES Mental Health, a leading organization in the Canary Islands with more than 40 years of experience defending the rights of people with mental health problems. This collaboration, which dates back to previous editions and is taking shape even more strongly in the 2025 edition, is much more than a combined effort: it's a declaration of principles.
Because yes, mental health is also a factor in Phe. And it's loud.
This year, the festival becomes one of the first to receive the distinction “Culture that cares”, a seal promoted by AFES that recognizes cultural spaces that clearly and actively commit to a more just, safe, and stigma-free society. It aims to publicly showcase an ethical, emotional, and social commitment that puts the well-being of all people at its center.
Caring is also culture
This seal isn't just a symbol. It's an action. During the festival, we will work with AFES to develop awareness-raising initiatives aimed at both the team and the public:
- Participating in awareness-raising actions to transform perspectives.
- Building more friendly and accessible environments with professional support.
- Making commitment visible across all media and channels.
- Understanding care as an everyday practice, not as something exceptional.
We believe that enjoyment should not be a privilege, but a collective right.
A network that embraces
Being part of "Culture that Cares" is a responsibility we proudly assume. This network of festivals and cultural spaces, promoted by AFES, works to open up spaces for other voices, challenge the established order, and celebrate difference.
And in that world, we want you to be part of it too. We want you to dance, to enjoy, to experience the festival… knowing that you're part of something bigger: a living culture that listens, embraces, and leaves no one behind.
What does it mean to care from a cultural perspective?
Caring is opening up space for other voices. It's asking ourselves: Who is missing? Who cannot participate? Caring is transforming enjoyment into a collective right. It is recognizing that mental diversity is part of who we are and deserves to be heard, protected, and celebrated.
This 2025, at Phe Festival We don't just dance. We also care.
Because the culture we dream of is one that leaves no one out.
And that, friends, is also to be celebrated.
And you, will you join this caring culture?