Current issue

Wind music has a specific position in the Moravian region of Slovácko, which was influenced by several factors. When it was entering the rural environment, where it brought modern contemporary influences, in the field of ethnographic science started to strengthen the discourse of authenticity. A few decades later, this construct of antiquity and ancientness became a factor that paradoxically contributed to the development of wind bands in this environment. This study describes the complex relationships between traditional music and its performance and repertoire progression in the context of the long-standing discourse of authenticity in Czech folklore and the folklore movement.

The text delves into Slovenia's oldest folklore festival, Jurjevanje v Beli krajini in Črnomelj, tracing its roots back to the 19th century and detailing its evolution. The festival underwent a formal name change in the 21st century, aligning with international folklore festival standards. Focused on the Green George ritual as the basis for the naming of this folklore event, the article explores the festival's historical development and its connection to the broader trend of folklore festivalisation in Slovenia. Key events in the 1930s – various folklore events and festivals of the time in the region and outside of it – played pivotal roles. After the Second World War, Črnomelj aimed to revive traditions of displaying regional folklore dance groups, resulting in the 1964 emergence of Jurjevanje, blending socialist ideology with heritage preservation. Despite initial political challenges, the festival evolved into a major tourist attraction, addressing authenticity debates and festival

On 7 May 2022 a crowd formed around the war memorial in the village of Randwick, Gloucestershire. The crowd grew in numbers and in excitement, with photographers from local news outlets manoeuvring to capture the event. It was the second Saturday of May which, for the inhabitants of Randwick and the surrounding villages, meant that it was the day of the Wap. Through qualitative interviews with organisers, participants, and attendees as well as field work observations of the Wap and its contemporary format, I will show the custom’s importance in the local cultural calendar and investigate how it has become entwined with the village’s identity. I will focus directly onto the community, through first-hand accounts, and use their words to best explain the ongoing importance of this custom and others like it. Through exploring how the Wap is viewed and celebrated by those involved, I argue that co-creation and observance of a custom allows a community to represent and reassert itself.

This study examines how Pennsylvania Dutch people maintain their heritage and express their identity through oral histories at the Kutztown Folk Festival, an annual celebration of the traditions and contemporary practices of the Pennsylvania Dutch. This folklife festival is the oldest continuously operated festival of its kind in the United States. The festival emphasizes current cultural practices while honoring its cultural heritage through entertainment and education. Many of the educational events occur at the Seminar Stage, the site for the collection of oral histories of Growing Up Dutch. Festival participants provide remembrances of the early years of the festival and their Pennsylvania Dutch childhoods. These individual remembrances become meta-folklore and contribute to a community resource for understanding Pennsylvania Dutch identity and belonging in the twenty-first century, more than three hundred years after the origin of this distinctly American ethnic group.