The event, held for the 54th time, was officially launched with a parade of participants through the streets of Zakopane on Sunday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
This year’s festival in Poland’s southern Tatra Mountains features concerts by folk groups from India, Mexico, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Macedonia, Slovakia, Greece, and the Czech Republic. They will showcase their culture "as expressed in traditional folklore," the organisers said.
Representing Poland are four bands: Magurzanie, Dolina Popradu, Mszalniczanie and Zakopane’s Turnie, the PAP news agency reported.
The showcase of highland folklore from around the world is taking place in the Równia Krupowa park, in the centre of Zakopane, according to officials.
Bands will vie for the 2023 Golden Highlander’s Axe (Ciupaga in Polish) award, the PAP news agency reported.
The 2023 International Festival of Highland Folklore also features a host of fringe events, including a science conference about shepherding in Poland’s mountainous Podhale region of which Zakopane is part, the organisers said.
The festival’s director, Anna Rybka-Stasińska, said that Podhale’s unique culture, comprising skills, dances, songs and handicraft passed through generations, “wouldn’t exist without the shepherding tradition.”
Podhale’s shepherding traditions and local handicraft are being showcased at workshops and presentations that accompany the 2023 International Festival of Highland Folklore, the PAP news agency reported.
Audiences have an opportunity to learn about the process of making shepherd’s bags, gloves and musical instruments, according to officials.
Other attractions this year include a Folk Art and Handicraft Fair, a reenactment of a traditional highlander wedding, and an exhibition of Podhale sheepdogs, the PAP news agency reported.
The 2023 International Festival of Highland Folklore in Zakopane is being held under the auspices of Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda.
The event runs until Thursday, August 24.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, International Festival of Highland Folklore Zakopane