The goal of the Festival is acquainting the children with the wealth of folk culture and tradition of various parts of the world and teaching them tolerance.
The main goal of the Festival of the Children of Mountains organized since 1992 is popularization of unique and living elements of traditional cultures on the international area, both by scenic and off-stage form of activities. The Festival’s formula is included in its name. Children’s regional groups from mountain areas of all continents can take part in the event. The choice of mountain cultures determines the fact that the festival takes place in the Polish Carpathian area. Six Polish and six foreign groups are invited to take part in the event, in total of 500 children between the ages of 7 and 14. Polish and foreign children are matched in bilateral partnerships (so-called comrade pairs), they are accommodated together and have integration activities and implement joint stay program. During the Festival week each pair has its “national day,” during which they are the “star” of the concerts . This unique formula makes the Festival of the Children of Mountains a place of having fun together, during which children have the chance to get acquainted with the richness culture and folk traditions of different parts of the world, learn tolerance and respect in relation to cultural, religious and moral dissimilarities of different nations. The festival is also a place of cooperation and exchange of experiences of artistic directors and choreographers, an opportunity to get familiar with different ways of looking at children's folklore and methods of presenting it on the stage.
Resources needed
Total funding: 600 000,00 PLN
Evidence of success
- 500 participants (children) every year;
- More ensembles willing to take part in the festival, than it is possible;
- Real transnational character (children from all continents taking part in the event, regardless the cost of transport);
- long tradition (26 editions of the event including 2018);
- more than 30000 of audience and participants of accompanying events;
- good visibility in media.
Difficulties encountered
Lack of proper infrastructure: amphitheater, accommodation and catering base (which can do all 500 festival participants proud in one place). Insufficient subsidize. Acquiring foreign teams that fulfil the restrictive conditions and those from other continents that bear high travel costs to Poland.
Potential for learning or transfer
The program of each edition of the Festival is designed so that beside presenting folklore programs in the form of concerts, young artists and their instructors and attendants meet as often as possible at accompanying events, to get to know each other and their culture: folklore, notes, dances, customs, characters of their peers , they learn tolerance towards other cultures. This approach is easy to apply to other transnational folk events. The success of the festival shows, that similar events organized in other regions may gather both artists and the audience. So the potential of transfer is high.
Tags: Cultural, Heritage, Mountains
