The international children’s folklore festival Licider Heart, which will feature the folklore ensembles Piskavica from Banja Luka, Foča, and Srpski soko and Bikavac from Višegrad, opened officially yesterday in Užice.

‘The city of Užice, as festival host and co-organizer, will always be there to support events that show the most beautiful image of singing and dancing youth from the city on Đetinja.

In recent years, the Licider Heart international children’s folklore festival has become a serious event, which aims to promote folklore as a source of identity of each people, a wealth of diversity that connects youth through dance, song and music.

I hope that the participants will have enough time to become acquainted with our region and its cultural and historical heritage, to visit some beautiful destinations, to feel the hospitality of the people of Užice, of which we are very proud. I invite our fellow citizens, as in all previous years, to follow the festival, to provide significant support to the ensembles performing at the festival this year and, naturally, to enjoy the beauty of the folklore heritage of our planet.’

The mayor of Užice, Jelena Raković Radivojević, said that it felt nice to be among young people and that the very name of the festival, which this year gathered around 1,200 participants from 15 countries, from four continents, was an invitation to spread friendship and love among people.

Folklore is more than dance, because it tells us in a special way about the past, about the customs of our ancestors, about how they lived and created authentic cultural values. It is important to keep from oblivion what was left to us as a legacy and to make an effort to have dance always unite us - said Radivojević at the opening ceremony.

The Licider Heart event will last until Saturday, 19 August, and after Užice the program will continue in Višegrad and Zlatibor.

Source and photo: Republic of Srpska Representative Office in Serbia