Nine folklore ensembles from the Croatian Catholic missions, communities and parishes in Essen, Darmstadt, Nürnberg, Düsseldorf, Offenbach, Ludwigsburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart/Bad Cannstatt and Wuppertal gathered at the Martinsee culture and sports centre.
The 28th Croatian Folklore Festival was staged in Heusenstamm near the German city of Offenbach am Main on the 4th of May. The event also saw the 5th Croatian Children’s Folklore Festival
Nine folklore ensembles from the Croatian Catholic missions, communities and parishes in Essen, Darmstadt, Nürnberg, Düsseldorf, Offenbach, Ludwigsburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart/Bad Cannstatt and Wuppertal gathered at the Martinsee culture and sports centre. They performed the songs and dances of the Slavonia, Hrvatsko Zagorje and Posavina regions. The closing number saw the ensemble of the Croatian Catholic Mission in Wuppertal perform Tamo gdje bi Divin kraj, which recounts the legend of the virgin martyr Diva Grabovčeva. The event was organised by the Croatian Roman Catholic pastoral office in Frankfurt.
Ahead of the opening of the festival the Liturgy of the Word (part of the Roman Catholic mass) was led by the priest Ivica Komadina, the delegate for the Croatian Catholics in Germany. The children and youth section from the Croatian Catholic Parish in Frankfurt sang the Croatian hymn, followed by the main event, which saw the gathered ensembles showcasing the skill and dedication with which they nurture the traditional songs and dances of the old country.
The panel of judges at the event was made up of prominent Croatian folklore researchers: Vidoslav Bagur, an expert advisor to Zagreb’s International Folklore Festival and the driving spirit behind folklore in Metković, and Iva Cvetko, a choreographer and expert ensemble leader under the criteria established by the Zagreb-based Croatian Society of Folklore Choreographers and Leaders.
Gold medals were awarded to the ensemble representatives. The event also featured DJ Ivan Bilandžija providing light entertainment.