Director Emir Kusturica and his No Smoking Orchestra performed as special guests at the closing ceremony of the 6th CIOFF World Folkloriada, which was held for the first time in Russia, in the Republic of Bashkiria.

The organizers remind that this was Kusturica’s second visit to Bashkiria, and that he previously performed at the Heart of Eurasia festival in 2019 and met with Bashkir cinematographers there.

– I remember the most the beauty of your nature and people, that is what plays the most important role in my life – said Kusturica.

In Ufa, the host city of this year’s Folkloriada, Kusturica pointed out that festivals were the main resources of world culture, Sputnik reported.

The sixth CIOFF World Folkloriada was held from 3 to 10 July in Ufa, and the capital of Bashkiria hosted participants from tens of countries.

The organizers state that folkloriada is held every four years, just like the Olympics, and that this year it was the second main music event in the world after the Eurovision Song Contest.

The program includes performances by creative folklore groups, international exhibitions, an international CIOFF conference on the preservation of intangible cultural heritage, costume parades of participants and other events.

This year, the world record in the number of participants in a khorovod was broken by the participants of the Folkloriada.

According to the editor-in-chief and founder of the Russian Book of Records, Stanislav Konenko, representatives of 57 countries – more than 2,700 people of 71 nationalities – took part in the khorovod of friendship.

In the very finale, a spectacle in the sky above Ufa was prepared by the acrobatic group of the Russian Air Force, the Russian Knights, on the Su-30 and Su-35 fighters.

Source: RTRS

Photo: Sputnik/Olivera Ikodinović