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Folklore Tourism
In 1972, the editors of the Fodor's Czechoslovakia guide (pub. Hodder and Stoughton) recommended the folk festival in Strážnice:
The festival is still quite active, as I found out last summer. However, most of the activity happens at night—wine drinking, loud singing, endless folk songs played by pickup groups and professionals. It’s quite an experience. And apparently, it was so even in the post-1969 period. Why was Fodor's encouraging Westerners to travel in eastern Europe at that time? "We believe it is precisely because of the trials [Czechoslovakia] is experiencing that a visit . . . is most timely. The country needs compassionate visitors right now."
The 2007 festival will be held from 21 to 24 June on the grounds of the chateau in Strážnice, under the auspices of the National Institute for Folk Culture (click here for their English page).
Tags: czech, folk, travel, straznice, music , festivals
The largest and most ecumenical festival [of those in Czechoslovakia] is that at Strážnice, in which folk dance ensembles from the entire country participate. So if you have only one choice, pick this one. Here you will hear folk music from all over Czechoslovakia (some of which you can’t even get on records), and watch a panorama of Czech and Slovak folk dancing you won’t see anywhere else. The bright, colorful costumes, the flash of gay embroidery, the stomp of dancing feet and the shrieks of laughter create an unforgettable picture. (p. 89)
The festival is still quite active, as I found out last summer. However, most of the activity happens at night—wine drinking, loud singing, endless folk songs played by pickup groups and professionals. It’s quite an experience. And apparently, it was so even in the post-1969 period. Why was Fodor's encouraging Westerners to travel in eastern Europe at that time? "We believe it is precisely because of the trials [Czechoslovakia] is experiencing that a visit . . . is most timely. The country needs compassionate visitors right now."
The 2007 festival will be held from 21 to 24 June on the grounds of the chateau in Strážnice, under the auspices of the National Institute for Folk Culture (click here for their English page).
Tags: czech, folk, travel, straznice, music , festivals
Posted 29 January 2007 at 18:28.
A graduate student in music and anthropology writing a dissertation about music in Moravia, the eastern third of the Czech Republic. At some point, the Czech Republic's "second city" (that would be Brno) captured my attention, and I've since been blogging about events, arts, music, and other stuff—basically whatever interests me in and around the cityscape. I'm not living in Brno now, but I keep up with the cultural pulse from afar as best I can.
Comments:
In between missing the last bus and waiting for the next one, I had a rare moment to check out your blog. Let's just say that I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER!
9:44 PM, January 29, 2007
Reading your article brings back memories. I visited the Straznice Festival 5 times from 1970 to 74. The music and dancing opened a new vista for me. The through-the-night music and partying was great fun. I still have about 20 LP's and some recorded music from Straznice, Uhersky Hradiste and Hornatsko. Now I'm retired, I intend to go back and visit.
Ahoj
5:37 PM, March 13, 2009
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