Vlora to host 3rd intl. folk festival

TIRANA, March 30 – The third edition of the “Aulona International Folk Festival” will take place in Vlore on the dates 14 to 17 May 2011, organizers say.
The festival, known for its spectacular and original character and is part of the Cultural Tourism of the costal city of Vlore. Its opening ceremony on 14 May 2011 will also mark the opening of the new tourist season in Vlora.
More than 10 folk ensembles from different countries of Europe and World will take part in the festival apart from Albanian ones. The festival is part of the
International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts (CIOOF) calendar and relies on its principles. It will take place in an open air stage with selected performances of the groups scheduled to be staged during the closing night.
Last year, folklore groups from eight countries participated in the second edition of the Aulona International Folk Festival held in the southern coastal city of Vlora from May 8 to 11. The festival opened on May 8, the day when Vlora officially opened its 2010 summer season, with a performance by a Kosovo folklore group.
Folklore groups from Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania performed in the four-day festival held in an open-air stage in front of the local stadium.
The festival organized by the local “Bilbilat e Jugut” (Southern Nightingales) cultural center in cooperation with the Vlora municipality is also considered an opportunity to promote tourism in the southern coastal city of Vlora.
According to Sejmen Gjokoli, the festival’s director general, the event which Vlora is hosting for the second year in a row is special because of helping promote the tourist resources of Vlora including the coastal areas managed by the Orikum and Novosela local government units.
The 2010 festival also corresponded to the fifth anniversary of the proclamation of the Albania folk iso-polyphony by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. 2010 was celebrated as the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures by UNESCO.