The fourth day of the Licider Heart festival began on 18 August 2022 in Višegrad with a folk dance workshop held in Andrićgrad, followed by the Mayor of Višegrad Mladen Đurević’s traditional reception for the participants. The reception was attended by representatives of folk dance ensembles from Hungary, Turkey, Czech Republic, Greece, Serbia and Republic of Srpska, including also Srpska’s Representative Office in Serbia, organizers from the Era Association of the city of Užice, and director of the company HE na Drini, Nedeljko Perišić.

The Heart of Licider is a great festival that is being held in Višegrad for the 11th time. This is the best example of how a nation’s tradition can be presented outside of its own country. For Višegrad, this is a big event that receives a lot of attention in the world, given the large number of participating countries’, said Đurević.

He thanked the organizers, the Era Association from Užice, the Republic of Srpska Representative Office in Serbia, and everyone who contributed to the event’s survival.

Borislav Maksimović, associate for culture at Srpska’s Representation in Serbia, said that for more than a decade the Representation had been supporting the Festival as one of the good examples of promoting Serbian culture and tradition.

‘We believe that this is a good example of the relationship between the Republic of Srpska and Serbia and that this is a nice way of cooperation from both sides of the Drina’, Maksimović pointed out.

A member of the Festival’s Organizing Committee, Goran Paunović, said that the goal of the Festival was to strengthen the ties between Serbs and to make it understood that the same people lives on the one and the other side of the Drina.

‘We have to appreciate that, we are the closest cities, and we have to stick together. The main goal of the Festival is to explain to the people who come that it is the same people on the one and the other side of the Drina’, said Paunović and thanked the mayor of the municipality of Višegrad and the director of the Hydropower plant.

The reception in the Town Hall was followed by a parade of the participants moving through the streets of Višegrad towards Andrićgrad, where festival concert was held.

The festival is organized by the Citizens’ Association ERA from Užice, under the auspices of the President of Serbia, and co-organized by the city of Užice, the Republic of Srpska Representation in Serbia, the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, and Zlatibor Tourism Organization, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Information and Ministry of Justice of the Government of the Republic Serbia.

Source and photo: Republic of Srpska Representative Office in Serbia