The 2nd Festival of International Folk Music, Dance and Traditions offers a big opportunity: spreading more widely the rich musical heritage, dances and traditions of faraway people. The constant factors of this important event are high quality shows and services: seats and evening’s programmes for the audience. “The Festival of International Folk Music, Dance and Traditions represents an excellent point of reference if you’re keen on ethnic music… Quality and skills are the basic elements of this interesting Festival that combines tourism and culture” Dr. Italo Somarriello, ENIT - Italian Tourist Board - Director for European Countries. “You can notice that every single show of the Festival has been selected with great care, which is a mark of profound respect for the audience…” John Devails, editor of the international review “Ethnic”.

Three musicians and seven dancers form this group from Manaus, a town situated in the middle of the rain forest. The show is an outbreak of colours, original costumes and lively music which involve the audience. Beautiful dancers perform for one and a half hour propitiatory dances of a warlike women tribe, and carry people away by their enthusiasm. When the Spanish explorer Francisco Orelana first ran through Amazon in 1541, he wrote down on his diary that he met “beautiful women with a piercing glance”.

This group of musicians and dancers toured all over the world, and took part in many international festivals of ethnic music. They have a vast repertoire: ancient music and revised traditional pieces, Egyptian classics and melodies from the Arabian world (Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Middle Eastern Countries). The magic of this music, the charm and skill of the dancers, the atmosphere of a little known musical culture create a unique show of overwhelming dances and rhythms of faraway places.

The name of this group comes from a typical Greek place where you drink “uzo” a anise flavoured liqueur and national Greek drink. They’re dancers and musicians who intend to spread Greek art among a large audience by using traditional Greek instruments like bouzuksis, guitars and other typical stringed instruments.

The Amù Group plays traditional songs and dances from Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast always searching within the infinite African culture. The artists wear traditional and colourful costumes and tell us Africa through songs and acrobatic dances. The group met several percussionists in Europe Rashmi Bhat, Larry Salsa and Ady Thiune, whose common interest for music and percussion gave birth to interesting multicultural performances.

Cuatro, Ilanera harp, contrabass and maracas. Josè Pegna, Jaine Antonio Virgas, Ed Fais are the spokesmen of Ilanera culture, the musical folklore of the Colombian - Venezuelan plane. Josè Pegna was born in Caracas in 1956, since his youth he studied guitar and cuatro (a characteristic Venezuelan stringed instrument) and in 1970 he embarked on a career which took him around the world to spread the music from the upland with great success. They perform touching pieces which tell stories of Venezuelan peasants, their work, land and animals.

Ren Soler played in the most prestigious Cuban orchestras, toured around the world and recorded several albums. He is considered an extremely skilled sonero, he founded Cuba De Son which combines skilful instrumentalists and a spectacular show and makes use of the well-known ability of Cuban orchestras to entertain the audience. The group plays classics of Cuban music and involves the audience in a lively party.