Music for gourmets - concert of the 21st international folklore festival "pokrovo varpai"

Music for gourmets – A pearl of the 21st international folklore festival "pokrovo varpai"

For more than two decades, the international folklore festival "Pokrovo varpai" has been an integral part of the capital's cultural life – one of the most well-known ethnic culture events in Europe, bringing together a large, tightly-knit community and promoting Lithuania and Vilnius to the world.

The traditional festival concert MUSIC FOR GOURMETS, taking place at St. Catherine's Church in Vilnius, is a special opportunity to experience folklore as it has been preserved and brought to the present day by communities of different nations. The two-part concert will feature the best folklore groups from Lithuania and foreign countries - Armenia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Spain, Norway, Georgia, Serbia, and Ukraine, bringing the musical traditions of their regions, which sound as authentic as they did centuries ago. Listeners will hear unique examples of traditional music preserved to this day, revealing the worldview, rhythm, and melodic memory of different nations. It is like a living dialogue with the past, allowing one to feel how tradition breathes today and how the voices of different cultures merge into a common, inspiring musical whole.

The uniqueness of the festival lies in its deep respect for traditional folklore and the cultural heritage values protected by UNESCO. In the second part of the concert, the audience will hear Georgian polyphonic music. The "Gurulebi" ensemble from the Ozurgeti Culture Center in the Guria region will present authentic examples of Gurian folklore – a region where tradition resonates in every voice.

Guests of the concert will not only enjoy exceptional musical performances but will also see vibrant national costumes, hear rare instruments with distinctive sounds, and admire folk dances that tell the entire histories of nations. It is an evening where music becomes a journey – into the roots of cultures, into human memory, and into what connects us.

MUSIC FOR GOURMETS is an invitation to experience folklore as a living, breathing art that inspires, connects, and enriches.

The festival organizer is the Lithuanian Center for Folklore and Ethnography of National Minorities. The event was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Council for Culture, Vilnius City Municipality, and the Department of National Minorities under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.

Festival partners: Lithuanian National Philharmonic, Vilnius Bronius Jonušas Music School, St. Catherine's Church, Vilnius University, Vilnius Old Town Renewal Agency, Vilnius Cultural Center, Lithuanian Old Believers Church, "Alaus namai".