FOLKEST 40th edition
The artists that, like every summer for the past forty years, have animated the numerous Folkest stages, for the 2018 edition scheduled from 21 June to 9 July, came from all over the world: in addition to Udine, Spilimbergo and Gorizia, numerous other localities were involved, for a total of 26 municipalities of Friuli Venezia Giulia.
A festival that by its nature is necessarily the result of collaborations, at all levels, enjoyed the High Patronage of UNESCO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MIBACT, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, the ARLeF (with whom Folkest has a three-year collaboration project), and of the Friuli Foundation (which has believed and continues to believe in the artistic and organizational path of Folkest), contributed to support the initiative together with the Municipality of Spilimbergo , of Udine and Capodistria, the Capodistria CAN. The AIAS Capodistria, NuovoImaie and all the local administrations involved in Folkest 2018. Also significant were the media partners, which included the RAI headquarters of the FVG, Koper-Capodistria TV, Giornale della Musica, Folk Bulletin and the Andrea Parodi Foundation, homologous and twin of Folkest in the Sardinian territory. Without forgetting a sincere friend of Folkest as Leo Orafo from Spilimbergo, who every year gives a splendid handcrafted jewel to the winner of the Folkest Career Prize.
For the 2018 edition, very different artists performed on the stages of Folkest, who wanted to celebrate the goal of his first forty years with a multicolored caravan that moved from villa to villa, from castle to castle, from a rustic village to the other, visiting places of our people’s memory and valuing all the music that, beyond being technically folk, world, jazz or songwriting, pure or contaminated, knows how to give voice to the cultural roots of any part of the world. To transcend the boundaries between music and genres, letting us tell ancient legends and common stories, sagas of heroes and stories of simple people that belong to everyone and are part of the cultural pride of the folks, but often they are the same stories which are just declined in different languages and tell us about our Old Continent in a succession of songs coming from the Magna Graecia to Scotland, from Belarus to Ireland, from Sicily to Sweden.
A path of knowledge, a long ride through some of the most beautiful places in our region, where the sounds and melodies of Celtic inspiration were not missing, a section that is never missing at the festival, as well as the border music, from the manouche to the Balkan, klezmer, blues. With a window on folk-metal, with one of the most successful Eastern European groups in the sector, the Belarusian Irdorath.
Without forgetting the princess of the Balkan blues, the Bosnian Amira Medunjanin with her Croatian guitarist Ante Gelo, or La Macina from the Marches, who celebrated their fifty years of career in Folkest, the Istrian Vruja, the Piedmontese La Mesquia and the Friulian Serena Finatti, who presented their new album produced by FolkestDischi.
The special production of 2018, in collaboration with the Gottardo Tomat Association, which fielded a group of teachers and students, under the direction of the Maestro Davide De Lucia, was dedicated to a reinterpretation of Sting’s music.
Then came one of the most important events of the kermesse, Suonare@Folkest, which for the first time brought its final phase to Spilimbergo: in addition to the concert performances of the qualified groups, the grand final scheduled for Monday July 9, was filmed entirely by the cameras of the programs of the RAI headquarters of Friuli Venezia Giulia, with the presence on stage of the famous Rai Radio1 author and journalist Gianmaurizio Foderaro, as conductor of the event. Guest of honor of the evening was the Sardinian artist Daniela Pes, winner of the Andrea Parodi Prize of Cagliari in 2017.
From the 2018 edition the space of the Oriental Tower in Spilimbergo has completely changed, which opened at 6 pm, giving space to some prestigious editorial presentations.
Expected at Folkest, among others, Adriana Schepis with her biography “Patti Smith – I want, now“, that retraced the life of the famous author and singer made of continuous resurrections, twists, acts of rebellion and unpredictable turns. Also on Saturday 7 July, Enzo Gentile and Roberto Crema presented “Hendrix’68 – The Italian Experience” which the authors dedicated to that first and only time when Jimi Hendrix and his Experience, came on tour in Italy, in May 1968: unpublished photos, testimonies of lucky spectators, original articles and magazines, tickets and other memorabilia composed a kaleidoscope of memories on the fiftieth anniversary of that memorable event.
Claudio Trotta was among the most awaited guests with his “No pasta no show“. Trotta is one of the most well-known and respected independent producers and promoters of live shows in the world that since the end of the 70s has organized more than fifteen thousand events in Italy and in the world working with artists such as Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, Kiss, Sting, David Bowie, Metallica, Frank Zappa, Elio e le Storie Tese, Renato Zero, Ligabue, Negramaro and many others…
KOPER
Not to forget Folkest in Koper, the pillar of every festival edition for twenty-five years now, which in 2018 has proposed three events: the Arsenal Project, a special production dedicated to the music of the Venetian Mediteranean; the mythical Bosnian formation Mostar Sevdah Reunion and the old lion Shel Shapiro.
UDINE
Last but not least, only in terms of the calendar, the chief town of Friuli, Udine, which has hosted the main event of Folkest in the well-known and appreciated setting of the Castle and one of the highlights of the summer, not only in Friuli: one of four Italian concerts of the tour that has seen the farewell to the scenes of Joan Baez.
