The 2007 Programme

Below are details of the groups attending the 2007 Alnwick International Music Festival. For a flavour of the feast of music and culture in store, check out the 2006 festival programme or the 2005 festival programme.

Moraczewo - Poland   Folk dance group Moraczewo was founded in 1988 by Mrs Kazimiera Rozynska, a resident of Moraczewo village in Rydzyna province. Since then the group managers and trainers have been Dorota and Grzegorz Smiglewski. The group has performed all over Europe and in almost every province of Poland. There are about 70 dancers in Moraczewo divided into two groups, beginners and advanced. They have also four professional musicians.

UHOT - Turkey UHOT, Uskudar Folk Dance Association was founded in 1981. UHOT's aim is to spread and share Turkish culture all around the world, sample different cultures, learn different traditions and have unforgettable friendships. Click on the Turkish flag (right) to visit the UHOT website.

Folk Academy of Elassona - Greece The Folk Dance Ensemble has more than 450 members (dancers and researchers) and aims at the cultivation and spread of tradition (dance, songs, culture). President and art director of the association is Mr Kokkinos. The Folk Dance Ensemble performs dances from all over Greece and especially from Elassona. Dances are accompanied with live music from an orchestra of 6 instruments (clarinet, lauto, trobet, troboni, accordion, tuberleki, daouli).

Steel Boyz Band - Mauritius The Steel Boyz Band, a family group, was created 6 years ago. It is the one and only steel band in the south region of the Indian Ocean, performing in many 5-star tourist hotels and open-air concerts around the Island. On stage, the Steel Boyz have 7 steelpans, accoustic drum, percussions and bass guitar. The musicians are mainly youngsters, playing many styles of music (reggae, disco, soca, etc)

Sbandieratori Carpineto Romano - Italy The ancient art of flag-turning is a popular part of the Alnwick International Music Festival. To the pounding beat of the drums, the flag bearers wield, wave, turn and throw their heraldic symbols which traditional identified different military groups in battle. The skilful art will be deminstrated by Sbandieratori Carpineto Romano at the 2007 festival.

Mazzamurelli - Italy Li Mazzamurelli de li Sibillini is a cultural association set up by a group of young people with a keen and long-standing interest in folk, both national and European. They have learned to appreciate the value of tradition and now want to preserve their culture and hand down the knowledge they have acquired to future generations. Li Mazzamurelli aims to discover and pass on anecdotes, songs, dances, customs and recipes, which bring to life the times of their ancestors. Although their forefathers lived humbly and worked hard, they loved their healthy way of life and enjoyed a laugh and a glass of wine. The group is from Ortezzano, a small village of some 800 people.

Luste - Latvia   Luste mean joy and happinness for everyone in Latvian. The group was named in the year 2000 but was formed 25 years earlier in Tukums, 70km to the west of Riga, the capital of Latvia. There are 150 children and youths, aged 4 to 25, trained in the art of dancing ancient Latvian folk and stage dances. They also give four special performances: The Little Herdsman, Tales of Tukums, Snow White and Tom Thumb.

Folklorna Skupina Jurij Vodovnik Skomarje - Slovenia FRIDAY ONLY - Folklorna Skupina Jurij Vodovnik Skomarje is a group of Slovene dancers who practice in the mountain village of Skomarje in the municipality of Zrece, which is twinned with Sedbergh. Zrece is in the Eastern Slovene mountains, just north of Celje.

Baller El Cimarron - Argentina   Baller El Cimarron, which means wild cattle, were a late addition to the festival courtesy of organisers at the Billingham Festival. The group filled the gap left by Ukrainian favourites Svitanok, who had to pull out weeks before the event. They performed on the Sunday and Monday before heading back to Argentina.

A host of local performers Including Andy and Margaret Watchorn, Andrew Lobb, Derek Johnson, The Castle Band and Robert Whitehead and the Danelaw Dance Band.

Svitanok - Ukraine (unable to come - sorry)   Alnwick International Music Festival organisers had hoped to welcome back old friends Svitanok, from Kiev in Ukraine, who last visited Alnwick in 2004 when they sang Alnwick: The Festival Song, a surprise gift to the people of Alnwick, but they have been unable to make the trip due to another commitment.

Timetable

Groups will be performing in the Market Place throughout the week. Check out the festival programme, on sale before and during the festival for £2, for more details. There will also be events in the Northumberland Hall alongside the Market Place and in The Playhouse, Alnwick's theatre.

Come to Alnwick International Music Festival ... and let the world come to you.