Good practice:

Twin town Valga/Valka cross border fairs and festivals

Twin town Valga/Valka have very active cultural life: heritage, culture, sports events and festivals are organised regularly.
The cross-border charity fair is initiative of border municipalities Valga/Valka and in 2018 was organised already for 16th time.
All the income earned from rent of trading places, lottery goes for charity, to the support of specific regional activities.
Visitors can take part in jointly prepared cultural programme, exhibitions, culinary activities and various workshops for children and adults. Local handicraftsmen, farmers, food producers introduce their local products and tastes.
Each year, the fair has more and more visitors and traders; cultural programmes is richer and includes art exhibitions, concerts, culinary workshops, sport events etc.
Valga-Valka twin town and its activities have gathered under slogan "1 city, 2 states".

Human resources for organising costs (as part on municipality personnel salaries).
Prepartion for trading places, stages, technical equipment.
Cultural programme.

It is a popular, annual charity event started with public initiative.
It brings together Latvian-Estonian border inhabitants but each year we have more and more guest from further regions.
When first years there were dozens of traders then in 2018 already 350.
This popular fair has initiated also other cross-border, fairs, concerts, sport events etc. in Valga-Valka but also elsewhere on Estonian-Latvian border.

It is a popular, annual event started with public initiative and does not require high financial sources – mostly good will and initiative, and good cooperation between stakeholders across the border.
Cross border fair is excellent opportunity to introduce neighbor country handicrafts, local food, but also culture (dances, songs, art, culinary heritage etc) and nature and by this unite cross border communities, both young people and adults.