Some years ago I suggested within the I.G.F. World Folklore Union to initiate a special event meant to the folk music soloists. The idea came to me from the comparison with popular music and from the fact that in the world there is no such a festival. For this idea to be better shaped out, I suggested an itinerant festival. That is how the I.G.F. Folk Caravan saw the light of day. From the beginning the idea was warmly welcomed by Romania, France, Spain and Italy. It also was the first big tour made by the Caravan, displaying the outfits, the songs and the performers from 10 countries of the world. There were many friendly bonds tied up and the variety of the shows made the audience and the press regard this event with much attention, respect and admiration. A real cultural courier covered more than 8000 km in Europe, carrying the message of friendship that I.G.F. incessantly upholds and spreads out. The songs and the costumes from France, Italy, Spain, Israel, Romania, Argentina, The Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, Belarus, Portugal, Lithuania, Ukraine and Turkey provided the thousands of viewers the opportunity of admiring and appreciating the variety of world folklore. Year after year, the Caravan enhanced its attendance and artistic value. Its 2015 edition was a real success, as the Folklore Federations within I.G.F. delegated really valuable artists, who proved their artistic features during the two weeks. The newspaper reports, the films and the pictures are a living proof of this success. The effort of the hosts from the four centres was obviously accordingly.
The first stop – Portugal. As I.G.F. vice-chairman, Antonio Vinas Mira closely dealt with both the concerts from Portugal and from Spain. The inauguration concert from Braga and Ponte la Barca made all the artists know each other and get close. More than 4000 viewers attended the concerts in the open air, enjoying this international event. The travel to Spain, the attraction points visited in Portugal and then in Ourense contributed to the complexity of the Caravan. The thousands of Spanish viewers gave an ovation to the artists’ performance in the central plaza of Ourense. The official meetings and the awards granted to all the festival performers constitute a sign of respect and appreciation of the I.G.F. Caravan.
France, by the work and effort of Zélida and Nicolas Charléty – I.G.F.’s deputy chairman – provided excellent conditions to the Caravan members, which made the artists meet the expectations. The applauses of the French viewers, charmed by the colours and the rhythms brought on the stage from downtown Voiron, resounded as well.
The end of the 2015 I.G.F. Caravan took place at the official seat from San Giovanni Rotondo. The mayor Luigi Pompilio – an I.G.F. senator – and Benito Ripoli – I.G.F.’s vice-chairman – worked together tremendously well and put on a real celebration in Padre Pio’s town. I.G.F.’s seat was covered in a gala outfit and in the end the viewers and the artists assisted to the prize awarding of those who had covered 10000 km under the I.G.F. flag. Apart from the Caravan artists, those who had struggled to carry out the activity under best conditions in this late June 2015 were not forgotten. Mister Adrian Puşcaş (the Caravan leader), Mister Ionele Gheorghe (the deputy leader) and the two drivers, Valentin Pop and Nuţu Sângeorzan, were thanked and given awards, even though the very end played an unexpected trick on them, which led to the extension of the stay in Italy by a few days.
At the I.G.F.’s seat, all the Caravan artists were invited and attended an official reception with the local and national Italian authorities and a few I.G.F. members arrived at this event. The photographic art exhibition put on and kept alive by the Romanian artist Lucian Dobârtă was utterly interesting and welcomed very well. In fact, the Bistriţa artist’s exhibition had accompanied the Caravan in all the four countries, providing the audience with the opportunity of seeing a certain manner of working in the Romanian photographic art. Appraised and admired, the exhibition added to the artistic life of the Caravan.
The 2015 edition of the Caravan proved once more the strength and the value of our world organisation. To cover 10,000 km with this splendid message of friendship and harmony in the world is a unique event of this kind at the world level. The success proves our excellent collaboration within I.G.F., the team and fellowship spirit that drives us initiate and deploy activities of such amplitude. I.G.F.’s now having its own seat in San Giovanni Rotondo, which becomes more and more defined by exhibitions and shows, makes me believe that the future international meetings will be equally ample. I already plan an I.G.F. television, a folk Eurovision or a special event dedicated to the world folk song. Given that everybody knows about San Remo, why shouldn’t they also know about San Giovanni Rotondo as a fatherland of spirituality and world folklore ?
I most carefully and thoroughly plan a more specific closeness of all the peoples in the world by traditional music and dancing. In this respect we are having discussions in order to try, for the next year, an ample world folk meeting entitled ‘From Meteora to Padre Pio’. We hope that we will succeed in this audacious idea and that we will be able to provide all the people who love beauty, peace and friendship with the special caravan ticket in due time.
Prof. Phd Dorel Cosma
I.G.F. President
