Before the start of the programme, which is taking place on a record six stages this year, all of the participants were also welcomed by the eBF Director Milan Kaplan: "It is amazing that you have all come. Welcome!" He then reminded us that the fourteenth year of our festival brings a lot of new developments, including Friday's round tables with Leopold Sulovský and Vladimír Vůjtek. Another new development was the festival bell, whose ringing signalled the festival could really begin in earnest.