1500 participants already count-downing

COUNTDOWN WIDGETS

Less then one month till the start of the Festival Internacional de Folclore "Alegria 2013"
Calella, Makfolk, Talija and more then 1500 participants count-downing till 22 June 2013.

See you in Calella ;)

XVIIII International Folk Dance Festival "Hanioti 2013" 15-20 May, Greece

One more festival in Hanioti is behind us...It was great one...again :)  


Makfolk Association and Talija Art Co would like to send warm greetings to all the participants that made this festival unforgettable. For them,for us and for people of Hanioti. 560 children from Greece, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldavia, Russia proved once again that dancing and singing is what can make world a better place.

During the festival every ensemble has at least two shows- the main one in Hanioti and the other in one of the places of Municipality of Pallini. The shows are organized in the evening hours with a short defile at the start. 

As you can see from video above also residents of Hanioti enjoyed and cheered folklore festival too. We can say that city breathed with the festival. Weather was also nice so most of the children were on the beach at free time...some of them also visited Thessaloniki, historical place Meteori or boat tour through Aegean see. 

Festival was closed with great gala ceremony where all the ensembles get certificate for participation  and also gifts were exchanged by ensembles and major of the city Hanioti.

You can see more pictures and videos at our FaceBook page.

At the end we can say that in September we will have jubilant XX Festival and there are already more then 800 participants signed in for the festival...so it will be greatest one for sure.

Hope to meet you in September.

Makfolk Association and Talija Art Co Team

The Best Veteran and Youth Folk Festival in Europe !!!

Last Call! VI International Veterans Folk Dance Festival “Ohrid Waves” 13 - 16 June 2013 The Organizer NGO “MAKFOLK” and "TALIJA ART CO" is honored to invite your group to take part on the International Veterans Folk Festival “OHRID WAVES 2013”  that will take place in Ohrid, Macedonia.The intention of our invitation is to celebrate  life, love and friendship trough dance and music. The Festival light motive is to present the cultural tradition of different countries and regions, and to provide an opportunity for the members of groups to get together and create long lasting friendships. ( DOWNLOAD APPLICATION FORM ) Location Ohrid an immortal town, a magical hill that links ancient and modern times forever. Ohrid has been a living town for 2400 years, notable for having 365 churches, one for each day of the year, and is referred to as the Macedonian Jerusalem. Read more... Accommodation Accommodation is in hotel in Struga, with own beach, on a full board basis (3 meals per day). The festival fee is 75 euro per persons. It covers organizational expenses, accommodation in a Hotel for 3 nights On every 25 participants, one person is free of charge. Read more...    Programme    During the Festival        each Group will    have two    performances in    Ohrid and Struga.    The performances    will be in the    evening hours so    you can plan the    day ahead and use    it for visiting the    historical part of    the city, excursions    or simply enjoying    on the beach.    Read more...

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Folklore Festivals Program 2013

Folklore Festivals Program 2013
by Makfolk and Talija Art Co. Team

We would like to announce that the International Festival Program for 2013 is ready. This year
as usual we have festivals in Chaniotis-Greece, Ohrid-Macedonia, Varna-Bulgaria, Lido di Jesolo- Italy and Callela-Spain. Also, starting from this year Makfolk Association and Talija Art Co. Team will organize festivals in Bansko-Bulgaria and Belgrade-Serbia

1. International Folk Dance Festival “DANCE AND SING” – Belgrade, Serbia
2. International Children Folk Festival “HANIOTI 2013” Hanioti, Greece 15-20 May 2013
3. International Veteran Festival “OHRID WAVES” – Ohrid, Macedonia 13-16 June 2013
4. International Folk Festival “MARE ADRIATICO” – Lido Di Jesolo, Italy 16-21 June 2013
5. International Folk Festival “ALEGRIA” – Callela, Spain 22-29 June 2013
6. International Children Festival “VARNA 2013” – Varna, Bulgaria 29 June-04 July 2013
7. International Children Festival “OHRID WAVES” – Ohrid, Macedonia 24-28 July 2013
8. International Children Festival “HANIOTI 2013” Hanioti, Greece 25-30 September 
9. International Folk Dance Festival “SOUNDS OF THE MOUNTAINS” – Bansko, Bulgaria

By clicking on each festival you will be directed to festival condition of the festival, if you want to download full Festival Program 2013 you can click HERE.


We will be very happy to see you on some of them and celebrate together world folk, dance and music.

All the best,

Makfolk and Talija Art Co. Team

FolkDance Story : International Veteran MakFolk Dance Festival "Ohrid Wave 2012" 14-17 June

This time Ohrid was the central place of this festival, fulfilled with great moments. As usual we had groups from all around the world participating all of them with different cultures and different stories which were presented by them. All the groups from Belgium, Lithuania, Estonia, Turkey, Serbia, Bulgaria, Poland, Montenegro and Croatia had their performances on the main stage in Ohrid leaving great impression on the big audience which was fascinated by the folklore dances.

Makfolk and Talija also organized a sightseeing of this ancient town for all the participants of the festival, bringing them closer to Macedonian history and culture. Suddenly the last day of the festival was here. Days full with joy, dancing and friendship make us forget how time easily passes.

One more time we had a great festival with great people making it more exciting with their presence. The Ohrid Wave Festival left us as quickly as it came – but the experiences, the wonderful memories and the friendships – those will be enough to carry with us and repeat this event with the same and new groups from all around the world.

Greetings from Macedonia and MakFolk Team. See you next year.

p.s Visit our facebook page and press "Like" button to be updated with photos and videos from festival.

Uefa Euro 2012 - Folkloric point of view

With Euro 2012 set to kick off, MakFolk wants to know who you think will win tournament which will be held in Poland and Ukraine. The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2012, will be the 14th European Championship for national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament will be hosted by Poland and Ukraine between 8 June and 1 July 2012.

It is very symbolic that in the period of Euro 2012 there will be three festivals organized by Makfolk Association :
"Ohrid Waves: - Ohrid,Macedonia 14 - 17 June , 
"Mare Adriatico" - Lido di Jesolo,Italy 17 - 22 June
"Alegria"- Calella,Spain 23 - 30 June 
With most of the countries participating both to Euro 2012 and MakFolk Festivals, it will be nice experience to watch the tournament together in free time during the festivals.

Just like festivals organized by MakFolk Association , EURO 2012 is promoter and presenter of various and different cultures and colors of European nations. We would like to make parallel and show unique of jerseys design as thay had remained similar as a national identity.

The sixteen finalists who will participate in the final tournament are:

P O L A N D



U K R A I N E



C R O A T I A



C Z E C H  Rep.

D E N M A R K 

E N G L A N D



F R A N C E



G E R M A N Y



G R E E C E



R E P. o f I R E L A N D



I T A L Y



H O L L A N D



P O R T U G A L



R U S S I A



S P A I N



S W E D E N




Spain and Germany enter the competition as the co-favourites, Netherlands appears to be strong contender, and France is being touted as the dark horse. 

And despite their recent troubles, England and Italy can't be discounted.

So which nation do you think is going to win it all?

Have your say by posting your comments below and voting in the poll at our facebook page.

p.s Feel free to share this post with your friends

Babushki to be part at some of the festivals organized by Makfolk Association for 2012

Everybody know for MATRYOSHKA, a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside the other.

But what did you know about Buranovskiye Babushki before Eurovision Song Contest 2012 ?!? 

Matryoshka dolls

According to Wikipedia , Buranovskiye Babushki is band consists of eight "grandmothers", but only six were allowed to appear on the Eurovision stage due to contest rules. They are from the village of Buranovo, Udmurtia, halfway between the Volga and the Urals in Russia. The band performs most of their songs in the Udmurt language.

Matryoshka dolls in real-life

The Grannies [Babushki stands for grannies in Russian] is consists of eight grandmothers, eldest member of the group is 76 years old, 77 in the autumn. According to the BBC, the Buranovskiye Babushki have had success in the past with Udmurtian-language covers of Western hits such as Yesterday by the Beatles, or the Eagles' Hotel California. In 2010, they came close to winning the Eurovision nomination with their song "Long, long birch bark and how to make a hat of it." But in 2012 they succeeded.

Their song, reportedly penned by the grannies themselves, is called "Party for Everybody."
It begins folkily enough, in their native language of Udmurtian, before breaking into a Eurodisco-style chorus with the lyrics, in English: "Come on and dance, / Come on and dance, / Come on and dance, / Come on and boom boom." It's weirdly hypnotic by the 12th time round. Oh, and at one point it features a sort of spoken rap freestyle.

They're no wannabe starlets, though. The group's aim is to raise enough money from their performances to build a new church in Buranovo.

But this is not the end of the story  for Babushki...they were "robbed" just before their performance.

German journalists had asked the grandmothers about their national costumes and asked them to show their stage shoes. The grandmas took the shoes out of the bag, but, before the Germans could look at them, the elderly women were asked to sit in the sit in the bus, forgetting about the shoes. The Germans, on the other hand, thought the grandmothers had given the shoes to them as a gift. Learning about the loss of the Russian grandmas’ stage shoes, however, the Germans returned them.
But the grandmas decided not to be rude to the Germans, since one of their husband had made reserve shoes for the grandmothers.

They are enjoyable and if you meet them in meantime...feel free to ask Babushki  to be part at some of the festivals organized by  Makfolk Association for 2012.  If they are booked for 2012...try for 2013 :)