Ladies and Gentlemen,
The “Cross-Border Folk Stage – Bautzen and Bolesławiec Festival” project was to be carried out as early as 2020, but the pandemic thwarted the local authorities’ plans, making cross-border contacts and the organisation of larger cultural events impossible or severely limiting them.
As soon as it became clear that we could meet again, the authorities of Powiat Bolesławiecki and its partner, Powiat Bautzen, decided that the project could nevertheless be implemented and that the two joint events planned as part of the project would take place.
And so, as part of the “Autumn in Bautzen” series of events, the Week of Many Cultures took place in Bautzen. On Saturday, 18 September 2021, the Zespół Pieśni i Tańca “Bolesławiec” took part in the German street festival. Forty-five people, including children, young people and their guardians, participated in a colourful intercultural event based on music and good food, as well as on mutual dialogue, openness and friendship between nations.
Representatives of many nationalities performed on the promenade in front of the City Museum in Bautzen. They shared one thing—the desire to present their traditions and culture to a broad audience. Alongside Germans, there were musicians from Cuba, Venezuela, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Hungary, Vietnam, Syria and Afghanistan, as well as representatives of the Sorbian minority from Germany and the Kurdish minority from Turkey. The highlight of the afternoon was the performance by the Zespół Pieśni i Tańca “Bolesławiec”, which attracted the largest audience. The promenade in Bautzen literally “came to a standstill”, as everyone formed a wide circle to watch the performance by young artists from Powiat Bolesławiecki under the open sky. Not even the already autumnal weather could stop it.
Our children and young people, dressed in beautiful traditional regional costumes, were in great demand before and after the performance. People came up to have their pictures taken with them, talk, ask about their motivation or about their impressions of the festival and their city. If you are still wondering whether it is worth going to Bautzen, the Zespół Pieśni i Tańca “Bolesławiec” confirms: it is worth it!
The next event planned as part of the project will be the second Cross-Border Festival of Many Cultures, featuring folk groups from Powiat Bolesławiecki and Powiat Bautzen. It will take place on 15 October 2021 at the Stary Theatre in Bolesławiec, and I would already like to cordially invite you to attend.
Starosta Bolesławiecki
/-Tomasz Gabrysiak-/
The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and by funds from the state budget as part of the Interreg Poland–Saxony 2014–2022 Small Projects Fund.
