The Festival of Catalan Culture will visit Slovakia for the first time ever. More than 500 performers from Catalonia will showcase their traditions right in the centre of Prešov. ADIFOLK - 36. Aplec Internacional in Prešov will take place 9 - 11 August 2024.
Aplec International Festival has a 35-year tradition
In 1988, with the aim of bringing Catalan popular culture to the attention of the whole of Europe, the first event was organised in Amsterdam. The initial motivation for the international festival was the desire to contribute to the projection of Catalan folklore in cities where the festival was of great importance because of its cultural, historical or social affinity with Catalonia. Each celebration of the International Festival brings together a wide range of participants from different areas of popular culture, as well as hundreds of supporters who also make up the Catalan expedition. The festival will feature a mix of performers from different groups who turn events into street shows.
Bringing this festival to Prešov is an exceptional opportunity to show that our city can be attractive for tourists and that it offers many opportunities for the development of tourism in the east of Slovakia. The city of Prešov will co-organize Aplec Internacional in 2024 on the basis of a successful nomination and a signed Memorandum of Cooperation with Adifolk.
The festival is organized by Adifolk and the city of Prešov
Adifolk is an association made up of people closely linked to the world of Catalan folklore and popular culture.
Adifolk belongs to CIOFF - Comitè Internacional d'Organitzadors de Festivals Folklòrics - recognized in the UNESCO STATUS B category. V In March 2023, the City of Prešov signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Adifolk, thus officially becoming the host of the 36th edition of the Aplec Internacional Festival. The complete organization of the festival and the coordination of cooperation is provided by the Park of Culture and Leisure (PKO).
In the rich programme you can look forward to the performance of groups:
- SARDANA (traditional Catalan dance) performance with original live music,
- stick dancing,
- human towers,
- Catalan orchestra COBLA,
- giants,
- Devils,
- music with traditional Catalan musical instruments
- and many others.
PKO Prešov in cooperation with the Caraffka City Gallery and the Regional Museum in Prešov will prepare various interactive events for children and adults. They will be able to take part in a creative programme or see an exhibition of paintings by artists from Catalonia.
News about the event can also be found on Facebook: 36. APLEC INTERNATIONAL - CATHALAN CULTURE FESTIVAL | Facebook
