58th Chodsko Folk Festival – St Lawrence Fair 2012

Chodsko Folk Festival is one of the largest and oldest folk festivals in the West Bohemia region and the second oldest in the Czech Republic. The first edition of the event took place in 1995 and the number of performers taking part every year is an incredible 600 comprising individuals and folk ensembles from both the Czech Republic and abroad. It became a tradition to link the festival with the St Lawrence Fair in Domazlice and this year the dates are August 10 – 12. The main organiser is the town of Domazlice and the Cultural Centre of Domazlice. 

The 58th Chodsko Folk Festival will start on Friday, August 10 at 5pm in front of the town hall at the Mir Square. The organisers will also introduce the oldest historic festival called Drachenstich which runs at the same time as the Chodsko Folk Festival in the nearby Bavarian partner town of Furth in Wald. The international folk ensembles from Croatia, France and Germany will make appearances at the event´s opening ceremony too. There will be a stage located by the gate leading to the square offering a range of entertainment throughout the evening including numerous concerts from bands inspired by folk music from all over the world. Among the acts will be Ondras (the orchestra of folk music instruments), Mediterian, Ceske srdce and Cankisou. Saturday and Sunday will see more than 50 solo and group performances on several stages throughout the town including some in the middle of the busy historic market set up in the town centre.

The festival programme will showcase all of the leading folk ensembles from Chodsko, bagpipe music bands from various parts of the Czech Republic and abroad and numerous solo performances. The Chodsko Folk Festival – St Lawrence Fair has fully established itself as a leading event for all those with a close relationship with folk culture. The event regularly attracts more than 80,000 visitors from the Czech Republic and abroad to the charming town of Domazlice and the Czech president himself has attended on several occasions. The programme of the festival also includes outdoor masses as well as in the Vesela hora – Vavrinecek on Saturday and Sunday at 10am.

For the full programme of the Chodsko Folk Festival please go to www.chodskeslavnosti.cz. Entrance to all performances is free. The festival is supported by the Czech national tourist board CzechTourism.

CzechTourism is a state-funded agency of the Ministry for Regional Development. Its main activity is to promote the Czech Republic as an attractive tourist destination. More information is available at http://scandinavia.czechtourism.com.