On Friday, June 30 the Zbyraż folk vocal and instrumental ensemble from Zbaraż (Ukraine), Bolesławiec’s partner city, will perform on the stage of the Old Theatre in Bolesławiec. It begins at 6:00 p.m. Admission is free. (The group is coming at the invitation of Bolesławiec municipality head Andrzej Dutkowski in connection with the Borderlands Festival being organized in Żeliszów.) The ensemble’s performance can be watched below (it begins at approximately the 26-minute mark).
The Zbyraż ensemble was founded in 2006 and operates at the Cultural Centre in Zbaraż. It performs folk songs and music in Polish and Ukrainian. For its participation in cultural events and festivals, it received the title of National Amateur Ensemble in 2007. In 2008, it performed in Kyiv at the opening ceremony of the Year of Tourism in Ukraine. In 2009, it received first place and a diploma from the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine as the best amateur folk ensemble taking part in the Art Festival in Kyiv.
The Zbyraż amateur folk music ensemble is a regular participant in the All-Ukrainian Cossack Song Festival “Bajda” and the Cossack and Ukrainian Patriotic Song Festival. In 2012, it took part in the All-Ukrainian Art Festival “Ukraine – the Holy Family” and also gave numerous concerts in Zbaraż, Ternopil, Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
The group also travels abroad for concerts. In 2013, the ensemble performed at the Ukrainian Culture Festival in Serbia, and in 2015 it was a guest in Głubczyce at a harvest festival ceremony. “We hope it will also become a frequent guest in Bolesławiec,” says Barbara Smoleńska, head of the Society of Friends of Lviv and the Southeastern Borderlands in Bolesławiec.