Over 11 years, the Festival has grown from a small celebration into a grand fiesta attended by distinguished guests. Most importantly, it has won the hearts of the people of Bolesławiec. Residents enjoyed themselves together, feasting and applauding the performing groups.
This year’s Festival began with a procession of participants. Three hundred people took part in it. A competition for the best pepper soup was then held, fires were lit beneath roasting piglets, and the women of the Village Housewives’ Circle made blueberry pierogi. Local groups and guests from Croatia—“Vila Velebita” and the “Prosvjeta” ensemble from Bosnia and Herzegovina—performed on the stage in front of the audience.
The Festival’s guests of honor were the Ambassador of Croatia—Ivan del Vechio, and the First Secretary of the Embassy of Croatia—Natalija Bukovec-Osmičević—as well as the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina—Koviljka Śpirić. The president of Prjniavor, Darko Tomaš, also came to Bolesławiec.
The guests praised the atmosphere of the celebration. “I feel at home in Bolesławiec,” said Kovlijka Śpirić. “You have a vibrant piece of my country here.”
Darko Tomaš, warmly received by the audience, said that both in Bolesławiec and in Prjnavor there are good people and beautiful women.
The guests took part in a timed watermelon-cutting competition. The Ambassador of Croatia won. The ambassadors offered the cut fruit to the people of Bolesławiec.
The South Slavic Cultures Festival concluded with a performance by the excellent “Boban and Marko Marković Orchestra”.
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)