The Ilidža Folk Music Festival (; sr-Cyrl, Фестивал народне музике Илиџа) is the oldest living and premier

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

in the

Former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. It is held annually in

Ilidža Ilidža ( sr-cyrl, Илиџа, ) is a spa town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a total population of 66,730 with 63,528 in Ilidža itself, and i ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. The festival was established in 1964 by the Association of Bosnian Recording Artists, is held in July and lasts for four days. The event hosts contemporary and traditional artists in genres under the umbrella of Folk, including

Sevdalinka Sevdalinka (), also known as Sevdah music, is a traditional genre of folk music originating in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sevdalinka is an integral part of the Bosniak culture, but is also spread across the ex- Yugoslav region, including Croatia, Mo ...

, Starogradska, Modern Folk, Novokomponovana, Macedonian Folk,

Turbo-folk Turbo-folk is a subgenre of contemporary South Slavs, South Slavic pop music that initially developed in Serbia during the 1990s as a fusion of techno and folk music, folk. The term was an invention of the Montenegro, Montenegrin singer Rambo ...

and accordion music. It has traditionally been the premier showpiece event for folk recording artists in Yugoslavia, with the two major Yugoslav record labels

Jugoton Jugoton was the largest record label and chain record store in the former Yugoslavia based in Zagreb, SR Croatia. History Jugoton was formed in 1947. It replaced Elektroton, which had been founded in 1937, nationalized in 1945, and liquidated ...

and PGP-RTS releasing live LPs of each year's edition. Numerous acclaimed folk singers from the Former Yugoslavia were either signed by record labels or received wider media exposure following performances at the festival. Serbian Turbo-folk star Ceca performed at the 1988 edition when she was 15 years old and won the competition with her single Cvetak Zanovetak, while Hanka Paldum was signed by Diskoton after winning the newcomer competition in 1974.

History

Sarajevo was a traditional hub for folk music in the Former Yugoslavia, with numerous recording artists from other parts of the country moving to the city in hopes of being discovered and in search of artistic inspiration. The city's vibrant

music venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Ty ...

scene that included countless live music clubs, bars and

kafana Kafana is a type of local coffeehouse, bistro or tavern, common in the countries of Southeast Europe, which originally served coffee and other warm drinks while today usually also offer alcoholic beverages and food. Many kafanas feature live mus ...

s attracted interpreters of traditional Bosnian Sevdalinka and

Romani music Romani music (often referred to as Gypsy or Gipsy music, which is often considered a derogatory term) is the music of the Romani people, an ethnic-minority group concentrated in parts of Europe. Historically nomadic, though now largely settled, ...

, as well contemporary folk singers and musicians of the day. In 1963 the Association of Bosnian Recording Artists organized the ''Meeting of Performers and Singers of Folk Music '63'', which was a precursor to the festival and was held in the Sarajevo suburb of

. One year later the festival was founded under the working title Festival of Folk Songs and Dances – Ilidža (; sr-Cyrl, Фестивал народних пјесама и игара Илиџa). The first edition was immediately endorsed by all major folk-based record labels and hosted performances by

Safet Isović Safet Isović (8 January 1936 – 2 September 2007) was a Bosnian singer who performed the Bosnian traditional music sevdalinka. Early life and family Isović was born into a Bosniak family in Bileća, located in the Herzegovina region of mode ...

, Beba Selimović,

Zaim Imamović Zaim Imamović (26 August 1920 – 2 February 1994) was a Bosnian sevdalinka-folk singer, accordionist and author. Biography Imamović was born into a Bosniak family in Mrkonjić Grad, modern Bosnia and Herzegovina and after a year his family m ...

and Silvana Armenulić. The festival quickly grew in size and in 1969 its live performance LP went

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

by selling 1,700,000 copies. The 1970 edition was the first to receive more than 700 applicants and was rebranded as the ''Ilidža Festival of Yugoslav Song''. With the start of the

Siege of Sarajevo The siege of Sarajevo () was a prolonged military blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the ethnically charged Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by Serbian forces of the Yugoslav People's Arm ...

and the

Bosnian war The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

, Ilidža found itself in Serb-controlled territory and the festival's run was halted. After the Dayton Peace Accords were signed in 1995, the suburb was reintegrated into Sarajevo. The festival was reestablished in 1998 under the patronage of the Ilidza Municipality and the

Sarajevo Canton The Sarajevo Canton, officially the Canton of Sarajevo (; ; ), is one of the ten cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its cantonal seat is the city of Sarajevo, also the capital city of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

. Since 2013 the festival is held in cooperation with the Hayat Television Network. In 2014 it celebrated its 50th anniversary. Artists that have performed at the festival include: *

Šaban Šaulić Šaban Šaulić (; 6 September 1951 – 17 February 2019) was a Serbian and Yugoslav folk singer. Renowned for his refined baritone vocals and performances characterised by emotional intensity and crowd interaction, his career spanning over five ...

Halid Bešlić Halid Bešlić (; born 20 November 1953) is a Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian folk music, folk singer and musician who has been performing professionally since 1979. Bešlić's singing career was one of the most successful in SFR Yugoslavia, Yugo ...

Enes Begović Enes Begović (born 6 June 1965) is a Bosnian pop-folk singer and producer. Early life Enes Begović was born on 6 June 1965 in Visoko, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. While attending a Visoko high school in 1978, Begović passed an audition as a sol ...

, Halid Muslimović,

Sinan Sakić Sinan Sakić (; 13 October 1956 – 1 June 2018) was a Serbian pop-folk singer. Sakić first reached massive popularity as a member of the Yugoslav turbo-folk band, Južni Vetar (''Southern Wind''). He also went on to have a successful car ...

, Lepa Brena, Dragana Mirković, Mitar Mirić, Miroslav Ilić, Predrag Cune Gojković, Zorica Brunclik, Šaban Bajramović, Meho Puzić,

Džej Ramadanovski Džej Ramadanovski (; 29 May 1964 – 6 December 2020) was a Serbian singer. Debuted in 1987 with "Zar ja da ti brišem suze", during his life he released thirteen studio albums and a couple of standalone singles. Džej was known for balladic kafa ...

, Olivera Katarina, Lepa Lukić, Emina Zečaj, Nada Mamula,

Zehra Deović Zehra Deović (9 December 1938 – 30 October 2015) was a Bosnian sevdalinka-folk singer and was one of the leading female singers of the 1960s and 1970s in Yugoslavia, along with Silvana Armenulić, Nada Mamula and Beba Selimović. Deović ...

, Žika Nikolić,

, Hanka Paldum, Ceca, Beba Selimović, Ibrica Jusić, Toma Zdravković, Zvonko Bogdan, Dragan Kojić Keba, Mile Kitić, Šerif Konjević,

Zekerijah Đezić Zekerijah Đezić (14 November 1937 – 17 October 2002) was a Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian folk singer. In 1964, Đezić became the first citizen of Tuzla to have their voice recorded on a gramophone record with the release of his first song " ...

, Muharem Serbezovski,

Esma Redžepova Esma Redžepova-Teodosievska (, ; 8 August 1943 – 11 December 2016) was a Macedonian Romani vocalist, songwriter and humanitarian. She was nicknamed "the Queen of the Gypsies" per her contribution to Romani culture and music. She started t ...

, Era Ojdanić and others.

Format

The festival runs four competition programmes: *Guardians of Tradition – designed to showcase traditional Balkan folk music genres such as Sevdalinka and Starogradska. *First Accordion – a competition programme for folk accordion musicians. *Folk Music Competition Evening – a competition programme for newcomers and unsigned talent. *Giants of Folk Music – the festival's hallmark programme that hosts performances by the biggest names in Balkan folk music.

References

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External links

Official Website
Tourist attractions in Sarajevo Festivals in Sarajevo Folk festivals in Bosnia and Herzegovina Music festivals in Yugoslavia Annual events in Bosnia and Herzegovina Culture in Sarajevo 1964 establishments in Yugoslavia 1960s establishments in Bosnia and Herzegovina Music festivals established in 1964