40TH ISTRIAN FOLK MUSIC AND DANCE FESTIVAL HELD
This weekend, the picturesque Rovinj hosted the jubilar 40th Istrian Folk Music and Dance Festival. 280 performers including 10 folk ensembles, several women’s vocal groups and 50 individuals, performed at the town’s waterfront on a stage specially decorated in ethno style.
With their authentic performances they wanted to present to both local people and the foreign visitors the preserved musical forms and expressions of the original Istrian folklore – kanti (traditional singing in a duet, in various combinations, by a group of male and female singers, accompanied by roženice, a traditional Istrian instrument, bugarenje or tarankanje, the traditional jeremiads), traditional instruments (roženice, shepherd's flute, šurle, and bag-pipe), classical instruments (bass, violin, clarinet), and dances (balun, špic and old polka).
Mladen Dušman, the Head of the Cultural Department, opened the program the goal of which was to promote and preserve the Istrian cultural heritage. Several hundred local and foreign visitors followed the prepared program with a keen interest.
