Folklore Festival Východná

The third one on the list of the most famous festivals in Slovakia that Toplist would like to introduce to you is Folklore Festival Východná. The Folklore Festival Východná is Slovakia's oldest and largest national festival, with international participation. Every year, on the first weekend of July, the beautiful village Východná, located near the High and Low Tatras, transforms into the center of Slovak culture, bringing folk traditions to life.

The first Folklore Festival Východná took place in 1953. Members of the Eastern ethnographic group Krivá were successful at the Strážnice festivities and decided to start a similar tradition in Slovakia. At the first Ethnographic Song and Dance Festival, folklore groups from Východná, Važec, Štrba, Liptovská Teplička, Liptovské Sliače, Hladovka and Sihelné performed. The amphitheater was built in 1954. It took on a national flavor and a new name, "Celebration in the Východná," in 1956.

The Folklore Festival Východná is now a display of the results of the regular and systematic work of many institutions, organizations, associations, and individuals involved in the preservation of traditions in the field of traditional folk culture.

During its 66-year history, the festival has become Slovakia's most acclaimed festival of traditional folk culture. The festival features approximately 1400 performers, including winners of the national competition for folk groups, children's folk groups, traditional folk music groups, singing groups, and dance groups.

The festival features traditional folk craftsmen, producers, and artists, as well as a variety of interactive and entertainment programs, including dancing, singing, and musical performances, singing workshops, creative craftsmanship programs, and children's activities. The Folklore Festival Východná is a celebration of traditional Slovak folklore, and its existence contributes significantly to the revival, preservation, creative development, and public presentation of the culture's rich values.

Takes place: the first weekend of July