ICE - special Hungary hosts third World Folkloriada Festival - the "Olympic Games" of Folk Art
While Slovenians have been hosting classical music fans, Hungary has been hosting a major folk art festival - the Folkloriada. It's the meeting place for people from all around the world who want to keep their own folk customs traditions and crafts alive - and pass them on. Several Hungarian cities provided the meeting place for dancers, musicians and craft men and women from 72 countries. Dorottya Hoppal is an organiser of the festival:
Folk group Nasha Pucha from Nepal, photo: www.folkloriada.hu
"First of all because Hungary has been a member of the international
organisation CIOFF for several years and of course also because we can
show other countries that we have a very good method for handing over
tradition both in the revival movement and as we teach the new generation
of children. It's also because the Dance house movement works well in
Hungary, so we can show our model, which can be followed by any other
countries."
This festival is very often called the "Olympic Games of folk art"...
"This is only to emphasise that we invite countries from all over the world. There is no competition and we do not give any medals to the participating groups. It's like the Olympic Games but without any competition."
What is the Dance House movement?
"The Dance House movement, which is connected to the revival movement in Hungary that started in the 1960s and 1970s to involve the young generation in folk music and folk dance parties organised regularly in Budapest and other cities. So this is our method how to involve the new generation in folk dance heritage."
Are there only performances or also professional programmes?
Folk group Ostravicka from Czech Republic, photo: www.folkloriada.hu
"Actually we also organised a scientific conference with the title
'children are our future', which is a conference combined with a workshop
and it deals with teaching folk heritage to children and the method and
practice of it. Five children's folk dance groups are participating,
attending workshops and exchanging experiences with the daily practice of
handing over folk dance heritage to children. There was also a concert
called 'In the footsteps of Bartok', which was a concert by the Pannon
Philharmonic Orchestra in co-operation with folk musicians from countries
where Bartok made his collections of folk songs. So, there were musicians
and singers from Algeria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Turkey.
"The opening ceremony was extremely beautiful because all the 2,200 participants gathered at the main square to attend a folk mass. Groups from many countries sang their traditional songs. The New Caledonia group, the group from Nepal, and from the Philippines and South Africa all enjoyed great success. The children's groups from Georgia, the Czech Republic, Poland, were also good. The audience also went crazy about the male dancers from South America's Argentina, calling them back many times. The Columbian and Venezuelan groups also had great success."
