The project Folk Music Show, co-financed under the Open Call for Proposals for small-scale projects in the frame of the Interreg Programme Slovenia–Hungary started on 1 April 2024 and the projectpartners, the Humán Esély Tanácsadó Nonprofit Közhasznú Kft. from Hungary and the Javni zavod za turizem kulturo in šport Beltinci from Slovenia, have realised the planned two full-day folk music events until the end of May.

The aim of the project was to raise and extend cultural cooperation to a higher level by presenting to the public the common rooted folk music collection of the border region, among young people learning music, folk music ensembles and choirs.

 

After nearly 2 months of planning and preparation, the first event took place on 24 May 2024 in Beltinci, Slovenia. During the programme, which started in the early afternoon, representatives of the cooperating folk groups, choirs and folk music schools adopted and signed an open cooperation agreement, pledging their commitment to the preservation of folk music traditions. The agreement is open to any folk culture institution or association in the region. The afternoon programme at the Beltinci Primary School was opened to the public with a folk dance and folk music session and performance by students from the KUD Beltinci and the Beltinci Primary School. From 7 p.m. onwards, the gala evening in the Culture House featured performances by the “Prekmurska Banda” ensemble of the Beltinci Music School, the singing group “Irmice”, performing folk songs typical of the Promurje women’s folk singing, the “Falajček” folk ensemble presenting a small slice of the Promurje and Mura region, and the “Marko Banda”, a group preserving the Promurje folk music tradition. The Hungarian partner was the “Csatári Pávakör” and ifj. Károly Horváth and his folk band. After the gala evening, the partners evaluated the programme at a late-night meeting.

The project’s event in Hungary took place on 28 May 2024 at Liszt Ferenc Primary School in Zalaegerszeg. From 10 a.m., the Liszt School’s folk-dance students, the folk singing ensemble “Zala Gyöngye”, which won a gold medal in the folk singing competition “From Tisza to Danube”, and the folk music group “Völgyi Banda” presented their folk music at a Students’ Performance. The results of the project’s drawing competition were announced and the exhibition opened with a folk song sung in Slovenian and Hungarian by the school’s “small choir”, and the best entries received certificates and gifts. A big show took place from 5 p.m.. After the folk songs of the “Csatár Pávakör”, the folk dance groups of the Liszt Ferenc Primary School, the students of the Körtánc Elementary Art School and the members of the Kerka dance ensemble gave a folk dance performance. The “Zala Gyöngye”, the Völgyi Banda and the singing ensemble of Karolina Kálmán, Rozina Kálmán and Hanna Keresztes dazzled the audience with a folk music and folk song performance. The Slovenian partner was represented by the “Prekmurska Banda” ensemble of the Beltinci Music School. The final song of the evening was sung by all the performers and the audience, one of the most famous folk songs of the Promurje region, the Marko skače (collected by Béla Vikár in 1898).

More details about the performers can be found on the Facebook page of project Folk Music Show.

Photos by Folk Music Show