The XII International Folklore Festival "Łužica / Lausitz" ended on 25 June in Crostwitz to the sound of the festival fanfare. For four days long, 43 ensembles with around 860 contributors, amongst them seven junior groups with 170 members, attracted visitors in Bautzen, Drachhausen and Crostwitz.

In addition to the 29 ensembles from Lusatia as well as the Thuringian folklore dance ensemble Rudolstadt e. V. and De Öwerpetters from Wendland, 12 foreign groups took part: Art Appreciation folk-dance group from Egypt, Krupitskaya Muzyki from Belarussia, Grupo Folclórico Uninorte from Colombia, Music & Dance Group Naoussa Paros from Greece, I Trillanti! from Italy, Tanečnί soubor Holubička from Croatia, Hungarian folk-dance group Szarkaláb from Romania, folk-dance group Furmicska Néptánc Egyesület from Hungary, the American Rhythm Folk Ensemble from the USA, the Myllargutens Gammaldanskester from Norway, the Zespół Góralski Zornica from Poland and Lubomir Tatarka from the Slovak Republic.

"I am pleased that we were able to welcome all of the invited groups for the first time, and of course with the great interest of our visitors. During the four-day festive events in Bautzen, Drachhausen and Crostwitz, we had a total of more than 20,000 guests. This shows that our festival is very well received”, said the chairman of the preparatory committee Marko Kowar, the managing director of the Domowina, on Sunday in Crostwitz. Domowina has organised this festival since 1995 every two years, together with the Sorbian folk-dance group Schmerlitz, the Sorbian folklore ensemble Wudwor, the communities of Crostwitz and Drachhausen (since 2007) as well as the foundation for the Sorbian people.

The patron of the XII International Folklore Festival "Lausitz" Stanislaw Tillich, took part in the final day of the festival on Sunday afternoon in Crostwitz. He expressed his thanks to the organisers under the direction of Marko Kowar for this colourful, diverse and cosmopolitan festival, which has a fixed its place in the European festival calendar and all the supporters, especially the people from Crostwitz. Maria Michalk, a member of the Bundestag, and other parliamentarians also attended the festival.

The chairman of Domowina David Statnik expressed his thanks to all participants: "From all of my heart I would like to thank all those who are part of this wonderful cultural encounter. I would like to thank all the participants, all the ensembles and groups, all the helpers, sponsors and financial supporters. My special thanks go to the owners of the farms in Drachhausen and Crostwitz, who have spared no effort in order to create this unique festival atmosphere and make all the visitors feel welcome."

As in 2015, also this year the preservation of the intangible cultural heritage of the national minorities was a special event, presented by the ensembles from Poland, the Slovak Republic, Norway, Romania and Italy, as well as the Lusatian Sorbs.

The exchange of experiences on these questions also served the seminar of the Slavic minorities, organised by the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), which took place during the festival. Among the participants was FUEN President Loránt Vincze, who, like Domowina chairman David Statnik, was campaigning for the Minority SafePack Initiative, which was launched recently. The aim of this European citizens' initiative is to collect one million signatures within a year to ensure that the European Union is actively involved in the dialogue on improving the participation of European minorities and regional or minority languages.

For further information, please visit www.fuen.org and http://www.minority-safepack.eu/

Text: Domowina

Photo source: Jörg Stephan