Vanja Ilijev and Kapela Rej at the Rog Banata Festival 

Freeform Tradition is excited to share that our participant, Vanja Ilijev is organizing the Rog Banata festival!

The Rog Banata festival is about traditional musical instruments and it's happening October 3rd to 5th in Zrenjanin, Belgrade, and Novi Sad.

Vanja is a driving force behind the festival as a part of "Banatske gajde" Association from Zrenjanin, which primarily focuses on the education and research of the intangible cultural heritage of Vojvodina and, more broadly, Serbia. In the first years, the festival was focused solely on artists who cultivate and present playing original musical instruments from Serbia. Later, the festival grew and provided an opportunity to enrich the program by inviting skilled players of traditional musical instruments from abroad, allowing Serbian audiences to see and hear the traditions of other nations.

Vanja will be playing the three-voiced Vojvodina bagpipes and drombulje, and he's got a really great mix of traditional and modern sounds. A Belarusian band called Kapela Rej will also be coming to play, and they're known for their energetic performances.

We're really excited about Vanja and Kapela Rej for being part of this amazing festival. Check out this news article Rog Banata - od 3. do 5. oktobra 2024 - VESTI (worldmusic.org.rs) to lean more.