ECHO Cultural creativity competition – instruction

Latvia

Music for sunset

Open-air concert “Music for sunset” on Balvu lake. When Balvu lake turns into an acoustic concert hall, “Vilnītis” raft turns into a stage, seats into boats and parking spaces into the shore of the lake. Enjoying music for an entry fee of bright thoughts, good mood and responsibility for your safety on the water. The festival takes place on the third Friday of August.

The event is organised by association „Ritineitis”, www.ritineitis.lv

Music festival “Upites Uobelduorzs”

The oldest Latgalian poetry and music festival “Upītes Uobelduorzs”. The festival was founded in 2002 by the poet Ontons Slišans, as a unique event dedicated to poetry days, where experienced poets and those just starting out perform together. Also young and popular musicians take part. Music styles are not limited at the festival, starting with folklore and ending with heavy rock. The rule of the festival is that almost 100% of the poetry and songs must be in the Latgalian language.

The purpose of the festival is to promote and develop the cultural life of Latgale: literary, musical, artistic and traditional processes, creating new cultural value in their interaction. The festival takes place every year in September.

The festival is organised by the Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage “Upīte”, www.upite.lv

Gathering of storytellers “Others know better”

A meeting of interregional storytellers, in which storytellers from neighbouring parishes and counties participate. Storytellers tell stories heard from other people or lived by themselves, humorous incidents, as well as anecdotes.

About ten storytellers participate in the event. The meeting is complemented by the celebration of the opening of joke books. In Balvi County, such meeting is held only in Krišjāņi.The meeting takes place every year in May or June.

International painting plein air “Valdis Bušs”

Valdis Bušs captured the earth, sky, trees, water and flowers in expressive strokes.

The artistic legacy of the artist, the nature of Latgale, events, people met and even sounds inspire the plein air participants to find their own, individual point of view and approach to create new artistic values. The paintings tell the story of Viļaka, the special charm and diverse cultural heritage of North Latgale. The exhibition of the works created during the plein air takes place every year in July, in the exhibition hall of the Viļaka Museum.

The event is organized by the Balvi County Council.

Poland

Cultural Festival in Lomza

Photos by Maryia Hlukhava

The Cultural Festival took place in Lomza, Poland, on 9th July.

The festival was aimed in order to bring more international aspect into the life of Podlasie Region in Poland. The participants from Poland, Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, Turkey presented their cultures, dances, food, traditions

During the day the quests were able to learn about other cultures, crafts. Tried traditions tzatziki, ayran, drank Turkish coffee and tried Italian specialties.

They organized scene gathered around 500 people from the whole Podlasie Region and the participants of international projects which took place at that days.

Together with the ladies from house association of Lomza we learned typical songs of this region saw how to make the flowers from the “bibuła – blotting paper” material.

The festival was organized by Youth Human Impact organization from the funds of European Union (Erasmus+ project).

FETA International Street and Open-air Theatres Festival

The organisers are the City of Gdańsk, GAK and GAK Plama- local cultural centres.

This year’s event took place on the 7-9th of July. It was the fifteenth edition of this yearly event. From the beginning the festival was taking place in the city centre or local parks to make it very accessible for the audience. This year it was organised in Reagan’s Park in Gdańsk. There were 14 stages placed throughout the park. Theatre groups that participated in the spectacles were locally from Poland as well as from Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Switzerland, Portugal, Germany and Denmark.

There was a great variety of acts both for kids and adults, ranging from light comedy spectacles to acts talking about war, domestic violence, refugees, borders and many more.

One of the Polish acts, performed by Theatre Migro from Kraków, was talking about the eastern part of Poland during the war, separation of families, multitude of religions and human relations. It uses old Polish song and words of prayers to immerse the viewer into the reality of war times.

Culture Night – Noc Kultury

Cultural festival in Lublin, organised annually by the Culture Workshop in Lublin. The event takes place once a year, in early June from early evening hours. Its program consists of several hundred cultural events most often held in public spaces, mainly in the Old Town and Downtown Lublin.

The festival’s program consists of events submitted in a free call by artists, animators, cultural institutions, NGOs, entrepreneurs and residents, as well as those produced specifically for Culture Night by the organiser. Each year there are several hundred free proposals from various fields of culture: theatre performances, concerts, exhibitions, film screenings, mappings, workshops or street happenings.

Many of them take place in unusual places – in courtyards and gates of tenement houses, on the roofs of buildings, or on streets in the city centre that are closed to traffic especially for this one night. During Culture Night, Lublin’s cultural institutions, museums, art galleries, libraries or underground corridors are usually also open.

Art installations in the public space are also characteristic of Culture Night. They make extensive use of light, so they are well exposed after dark.

Jarmark Jagielloński – The Jagiellonian Fair in Lublin

One of main, annual, cultural events in the city for over 15 years. It’s held for several days each year in August. Throughout that time it has continued to develop and grow while striving for the best way to exhibit itself to the public. Starting from early, general allusions to the heritage of the Jagiellonian era and trade routes that used to run through Lublin, it also addressed the subject of folk tradition. It aims at presenting and promoting this culture in its various forms, both strictly sourced, authentic ones and contemporary. The festival refers to Lublin fairs dating back to the 15th century. In those days, trade routes running through Lublin brought to our city of culture many travellers, nomads and traders. This is why the festival is called the Jagiellonian Fair. The Jagiellonian Fair offers a range of workshops – dance, singing, crafts that enable contact with folk artists, enthusiasts and practitioners of traditional arts.

Germany

ALTONALE | International Festival of street arts

STAMP is the festival for performative arts in public space in Hamburg – and the term “space” is becoming increasingly important. Our artists develop their performances for and in a specific place, which determines their art to varying degrees, but in any case influences it.

STAMP is international. We define STAMP today as part of an international network of festivals that learns from each other and sets up long-term projects together that go far beyond a one-off event. In doing so, we engage together with current social debates and want to actively participate in giving art and culture a higher status in our everyday lives.

Photos by: Najib Khalil

LATIN AMERICAN CULTURAL FESTIVAL in Marstall | Ahrensburg

A colorful event that takes us on a journey through the vibrant, lively and passionate culture and feel the magic of South America: Vibrant traditions, delicious dishes, breathtaking dances!

We discover together the part of the world where the music never stops. In this event you should come with a lot of energy to have fun dancing to Latin music.

Welcome to Latin America!

Photos by: Yessenia Brittto

BLUE PORT HAMBURG | Port glows blue again in 2023

Hamburg’s Blue Port, the work of light artist Michael Batz, takes place every two years before and during the Cruise Days. This year, the Blue Harbor will be on view from September 1 to 10, 2023.

In 2023, the Port of Hamburg will once again be immersed in the magical blue light and is looking forward to a large number of visitors and a great light show. “Light is life, and light in public is light for social life, for joie de vivre and joyful coexistence”: this is how Michael Batz, light artist and creator of Blue Port Hamburg, aptly describes it. Under the sign of “blue light”, two worlds come together, which are also reflected in Hamburg’s harbor.

Photos by: Mariela Mendieta

Italy

Carnevale di Putignano – Putignano’s Carnival

The Carnival of Putignano, located near Bari in southern Italy, is one of the oldest and longest celebrations in Europe, dating back to 1394. It is known for its unique duration, starting on December 26th and ending on Shrove Tuesday, which can last for up to four months. The carnival has become less sacred and more profane over time, with the local people using it as an opportunity to mock public figures by creating large caricatures that they carry in a procession through the town. The major spectacles of the carnival take place before Lent in January and February, with the biggest town parades occurring on the Sundays immediately preceding Lent, and the final event happening on Shrove Tuesday. The carnival features fantastic papier-mache puppets, live music, and large crowds of local people. The festival ends with priests running through the streets with brooms, symbolizing the “death” of the carnival until the following year. The carnival is also known for its manufacture of papier-mâché, which is used in the construction of the floats for the parade. The protagonist of the carnival is ‘Farinella’, a clown-like figure who first appeared in his current form in 1953. The Carnival of Putignano is a mix of culture and entertainment, combining mystic, pagan, traditional, and modern elements, and is celebrated with a parade of floats and the funny character called Farinella. The carnival is also famous for its clay whistles of incredible design.

Link: https://www.carnevalediputignano.it/home/

Sagra delle Fragole – Strawberry Festival

The Sagra delle Fragole, or the Strawberry Festival, is an annual event (since 1922) held in Nemi, in Lazio,Italy, to celebrate the town’s renowned delicious strawberries and fragoline di bosco (wild strawberries). According to legend, these wild strawberries were born from the tears shed by Venus over the death of Adonis, which were then transformed into red hearts. Apparently, these strawberries had powers, such as that of warding off snakes in the woods.

The village is filled with flowers and tourists can taste the fruits grown along the shores of Lake Nemi for free, amidst historical re-enactments and folkloric dances. The heart of the event is the parade of the ‘Fragolare’, the village girls, who for the occasion wear the ancient traditional costume (red skirt, black corset, white blouse and lace mandrucella on their heads). The festival typically takes place in late May through the month of June. Nemi is known for its wild strawberries, and the festival features a program of events, including special menus with strawberry-themed dishes, local-made goods, and other products.

The festival also offers an opportunity for visitors to purchase crates of strawberries to take home at a reasonable price.

Link: https://comunedinemi.rm.it/contenuti/180207/nemi-paese-fragole-castelli-romani

Notte della Taranta – The Night of Tarantula

La Notte della Taranta, also known as the Night of Tarantula, is a prominent music festival held in Salento, Apulia, Italy. The festival is centered around Pizzica, a popular folk genre in Salento, and takes place in various municipalities in the province of Lecce and the Grecìa Salentina, with Melpignano being a significant location for the event. La Notte della Taranta celebrates the folk music tradition of Taranta and Pizzica, and it has become a significant cultural and tourism resource for Apulia. The festival is dedicated to the rediscovery of Salento’s folk music and its fusion with other music genres, ranging from world music to rock, jazz, and classical music. La Notte della Taranta features a series of high-quality concerts each summer, attracting both local and international audiences. The festival has welcomed renowned artists and “Maestri Concertatori,” including Joe Zawinul, Goran Bregovic, and Giovanni Sollima, who have contributed to its growth and success. La Notte della Taranta is Italy’s largest music festival and one of Europe’s most important events dedicated to traditional culture, making it a significant celebration of southern Italy’s popular folk traditions.

Link: https://www.lanottedellataranta.it/it/

Portugal

Vila do conde’s Flower Carpets

credits: Vila do Conde Municipal Archive

Every four years, Vila do Conde celebrates Corpus Christi Day with one of its most iconic traditions, the flower carpets.

In a significant community effort, organized into street teams, each one becomes responsible for creating its carpet, and over several weeks, they join to collect, carefully prepare, and defoliate tons of leaves and flowers. Throughout the night preceding the grand celebration, the teams from each street relentlessly fill in the framed designs, meticulously tailoring the approximately 3 kilometers of natural flower carpets.

In the morning, the streets of the historical city center awaken with a fresh scent and a majestic tapestry made with thousands of flowers in different shapes and colorful patterns, in a unique scene of rare beauty.

This traditional festivity is held by the community, linked to the religious celebration, and with the municipality´s support.

National Craft Fair

credits: Vila do Conde Municipal Archive

https://www.facebook.com/cm.viladoconde/videos/306885148347572 (resume video from this year’s edition)

The National Crafts Fair is an annual benchmark event held since 1978 involving several national artisans and attracting many visitors. A relevant strategy to ensure the preservation of traditional and the promotion of new Portuguese crafts while pledging the genuineness and quality of the products presented.

This free entrance event takes place in an attractive open-air space, with 11,000 square meters, where the nearly two hundred participating artisans display their arts and craft products, having bobbin lace a recognized relevance. There are also traditional music and dance performances, gastronomic days, and this year’s edition new feature was the Young Craftsman Competition to encourage the creativity of young people under 30.

The event is a joint venture between the Association for the Defence of Crafts and Heritage in Vila do Conde and the municipality.

(https://feiranacionaldeartesanato.com/)

Circular Festival of Performing Arts

Based in Vila do Conde, Circular is a cultural association that has promoted the Circular Festival of Performing Arts every year since 2005, with experimental proposals in different artistic areas such as dance, performance, theater, music, and visual arts.

It promotes the circulation of national and international creators while investing in established names in the performing arts and emerging artists. It favors creative processes through artistic residencies and seeks a close dialogue between the artistic community, the context, and the public. The festival aims to guarantee diversity in the conceptual content of the proposals and a distinctive approach to institutional programming trends, opening up space for risk and the visibility of emerging projects. Investing in new creations through co-productions, it presents shows as absolute and national premieres, building partnerships with locally, nationally, and internationally relevant organizations that boost the share of resources and the crossing of audiences. In addition to helping to broaden the cultural offer in the north of the country, in general, and in the Porto Metropolitan Area, in particular, this festival is committed to artistic creation with the community of the city where it takes place – Vila do Conde.

https://www.circularfestival.com/pt/

Queima do Judas

Queima do Judas is the result of a process of artistic creation grounded in research, training, and experimentation (dramaturgical, choreographic, musical, visual, and scenographic) to present to the public a series of activities that include urban intervention, training, conferences, and a multidisciplinary community street show.

This event occurs annually on the so-called Hallelujah Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday, a popular tradition based on a probable punishment for Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth in exchange for 30 gold coins. The coincidence of the time of this celebration with the arrival of spring led to an overlapping of dates, which over time resulted in the immolation of loathsome characters, which in pagan language meant the same as ending winter, the dark, black period associated with the “evils” of society, cold and poor.

The “Queima do Judas” project in Vila do Conde, organized by A Nuvem Voadora Associação Cultural since 2005, with the support of the Municipality, brings together a wide range of organizations and people from the local, regional, national, and international levels to stage a multicultural event that brings that tradition back to life. This multidisciplinary artistic happening has become increasingly popular in recent years, involving hundreds of people from the artistic and associative local movements in its production and creation. A unique moment of celebration of the sacred and the profane, of humor, irony, and satire, artistic areas as diverse as theater, circus, dance, visual arts, music, video, and photography come together.

https://www.nuvemvosdora.com/

Greece

Wine and traditional dance festival

Photo: Municipality of Marathon

Photo: https://news.marathonpress.gr/

A celebration in the Municipality of Marathon takes place every September and is dedicated to tradition, history, roots and memories of the people of the place, but also to the strong local product, wine.

The festival is organized by the Municipality of Marathon with the participation of organizations and associations from each unit of the Municipality, wine producers from Marathon and the surrounding areas of Eastern Attica and more than 360 dancers.

Cultural Day at The European Museum of Bread (Αnniversary of the adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO 2003))

Photos by: Panagiota Papadopoulou

A day full of culture, enthusiasm and pulse was the 7th of October 2023 at the European Bread Museum in Varnavas, Marathon. From 11.00 in the morning until 8.30 in the evening, parallel events took place. The morning was dedicated to the Green Heritage Schools programme, in the framework of which visitors from Latvia, Italy and Cyprus living in Greece, met at the museum.

At the same time, the young visitors participated in the experiential programme “Little Fashion Designers” and created exceptional projects, such as jewellery. The afternoon was dedicated to the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO 2003), with speeches by Dr. Ioannis Karachristou, Principal Researcher at the Centre for the Study of Greek Folklore of the Academy of Athens and Katia Flevaris, holder of the Master’s Degrees in “Studies in Education” and “Public History” and adult educator as well as the greeting on behalf of the museum. The two above mentioned actions are under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture.

The people were particularly interested when the bread embroiderers started to “embroider” and encouraged the young and old visitors to participate in the experiential workshops. The evening went on with music and songs by the Latvian choir, while the guests enjoyed culinary delights.

“Achilleia” event and “Folklore Collectiva”

The “Achilleia” event is organized by the Folklore Company of Varnavas at the Varnavas Museums, dedicated to Achilleas Turkantonis, Professor of Medicine.

At the same time, the folklore art collective took place and consisted of a wide range of artists and researchers dedicated to the promotion and preservation of folklore cultural heritage. Through various activities and events, the folklore festival with live music, local food and art, strives to highlight and preserve the traditional elements of European culture.