The organisers of the European Stone Festival got fed up this year that, for the first time ever, some of the masons and carvers registered to attend did not turn up. The numbers had to be restricted to 150 and 50 applicants were turned down. Yet 35 of those who registered (including a shamefully high 16 from England) did not attend the actual event in Freiburg, Germany.

So for next year's event, this time in Strasbourg in Alsace, France, 26-28 June, those who register are going to have to pay their €50 participation fee upfront to demonstrate their commitment. And the deadline for registering has been brought forward to 21 December. There is not even a registration form nor any information about the event on the European Stone Festival website. You have to email your application, along with your CV and a sketch of the work you propose to produce, to Norbert Stoffel* at easms@easms.eu. 

Neither is any accommodation provided this time. You are recommended to book yourself a room at a local hotel or guest house using the Strasbourg tourist information website.

The 2015 European Stone Festival will be one of several events marking the millennium of the founding of Strasbourg Cathedral. The European Association of Stonemasons & Sculptors (EASMS) and the City of Strasbourg will be the hosts.

The theme next year is: The message of the builders in Romanesque art and the mysticism of the Rhineland – the wisdom in symbols and mysteries.

If you are accepted as one of the participants, you will have to pay your €50 in January. The fee covers dinner on 26 June, lunch and dinner on 27 June and lunch on 28 June, water during meals and the competition and the purchase of six local bus or tram tickets.

*Norbert Stoffel, President of the European Association of Stone Masons & Sculptors, 3 Rue des Bouchers, F 67490 DETTWILLER. easms@easms.eu  www.easms.eu  Tel: 0033 (0)672 365956