Balkanfolk News                                                                        www.balkanfolk.com

The Festival in Lefkada 2012
2 September 2012

We recently returned from the island of Lefkada where Ensemble Zornitsa was one of the twenty-four guest ensembles at the 50th edition of the international folklore festival. The jubilee made the festival different – this year participants were the best groups which performed on the festival stages through the years. The gala spirit was in the air, the open city theatre was full during all the evenings, the organization was professional. For one week the city turned into a festival. Long parades covered its streets. During the days dancers dressed in T-shirts with names of groups coming from the whole world walked around the city and in the evenings, after the concerts, the dances moved from the stage to the streets. The central square came alive with music and dance, mariachi played on the main walking street, tourists stopped dancers in colorful costumes to take pictures with them.

And this until the morning…

Lefkada inclines towards emotion with its countless gulfs, the masts of the ships high in the sky, the sun and the white rocks, bordering the sea. We found new friends there, created common memories with them, lived unforgettable moments, welcomed sunrises and sent out sunsets. Filled the stage with emotions and colours. We remembered our past – 11 years younger, on the same stage with the same passion in front of the same audience. Audiences which remembered us… 11 years later… The most emotional moments were those in which people came to share their memories with us… To show their articles that time ago they wrote about us and to welcome us again on the stage by the coast of the sea. To welcome us and to send us out with their applause.

Official site: www.zornitsa.org/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/zornitsaens