Europeade is the largest festival of European folk culture, held in a different European country each year. The last Europeade was held in Turku, Finland in 2017. The year before that it was held in Namur, Belgium in 2016.
The first Europeade was held in 1964 at the initiative of Mon de Clopper (1922–1998) from Flanders and Robert Müller-Kox, a German exiled from the Province of Silesia. Mon de Clopper was president of the Europeade until 1997, when he was succeeded by the current president Bruno Peeters (born 1939), also from Flanders.
The goal of the Europeade is to foster a united Europe, where everyone contributes and develops his or her own culture, respecting everyone else. This philosophy is practised each year during the five-day festival, when thousands of people from all parts of Europe, dressed in their traditional costumes, meet to sing, to make music, to dance and to celebrate - without formal lecturing.
In a typical Europeade there are about five thousand participants, all in costume, in almost two hundred groups, from about twenty-two countries. They all pay their own transport costs, and perform free of charge. Participants arrive during the Wednesday, and are accommodated in large premises wherever possible, typically in large schools, with basic beds supplied in the class-rooms, and using other school amenities. Large-scale catering is provided, usually a simple breakfast, a packed lunch and a hot evening meal in one central location. Groups perform in a number of large concerts, in designated street locations, and take part in a massed parade through the town and in a major Saturday evening Europeade Ball. Outside the actual events many groups will sing, play and dance wherever they happen to find themselves, including the premises where they are lodged. After the Sunday afternoon Closing Concert - typically ninety groups performing - groups are free to make their way home, but accommodation continues until after breakfast on the Monday morning.
Cities where the Europeade was held
1964 Antwerp, Belgium 1965 Dortmund, West Germany 1966 Antwerp, Belgium 1967 Valencia, Spain 1968 Antwerp, Belgium 1969 Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium 1970 Herzogenaurach, West Germany 1971 Antwerp, Belgium 1972 Annecy, France 1973 Nuoro, Italy 1974 Antwerp, Belgium 1975 Marbella, Spain 1976 Annecy, France 1977 Nuoro, Italy 1978 Vienna, Austria 1979 Antwerp, Belgium 1980 Schwalmstadt, West Germany 1981 Martigny, Switzerland 1982 Gijón, Spain 1983 Vienna, Austria 1984 Rennes, France 1985 Turin, Italy 1986 Figueira da Foz, Portugal 1987 Munich, West Germany 1988 Antwerp, Belgium 1989 Libourne, France 1990 Valladolid, Spain 1991 Rennes, France 1992 Figueira da Foz, Portugal 1993 Horsens, Denmark 1994 Frankenberg, Germany 1995 Valencia, Spain 1996 Turin, Italy 1997 Martigny, Switzerland 1998 Rennes, France 1999 Bayreuth, Germany 2000 Horsens, Denmark 2001 Zamora, Spain 2002 Antwerp, Belgium 2003 Nuoro, Italy 2004 Riga, Latvia 2005 Quimper, France 2006 Zamora, Spain 2007 Horsens, Denmark 2008 Martigny, Switzerland 2009 Klaipėda Lithuania 2010 Bolzano, Italy 2011 Tartu, Estonia 2012 Padua, Italy 2013 Gotha, Germany 2014 Kielce, Poland 2015 Helsingborg, Sweden 2016 Namur, Belgium 2017 Turku, Finland 2018 Viseu, Portugal 2019 Frankenberg an der Eder, Germany 2022 Klaipėda, Lithuania 2023 Gotha, Germany 2024 Nuoro, Italy 2025 cancelled
2020 and 2021 were cancelled and held virtually due to Covid-19.
Participation by country For the Europeade 2008 in Martigny (Switzerland) some two hundred groups registered. Their countries of origin were as follows: 27 groups from Germany 26 groups from Spain and Belgium 16 groups from Latvia 15 groups from each Estonia, France and Italy 10 groups from Hungary 9 groups from Lithuania 8 groups from the Czech Republic 7 groups from Portugal 5 groups from Denmark 3 groups from each Ireland, The Netherlands, Romania and Sweden two groups from each Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Greece and the United Kingdom one group from each Armenia, Austria, Georgia, Greenland and Luxembourg also the host country Switzerland was represented by only one group there were no groups from Iceland, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and Former Yugoslavia, despite the strong folk tradition of those countries.
For the Europeade 2011 in Tartu (Estonia) over hundred groups registered. Their countries of origin were as follows: 34 groups from Estonia 21 groups from Latvia 13 groups from Finland 12 groups from Germany 8 groups from each Italy and Belgium 5 groups from each Lithuania and Czech Republic 3 groups from each Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden and Turkey 2 groups from each Slovakia, Cyprus and Denmark 1 group from each Austria, Switzerland, France, Greenland, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Slovenia and United Kingdom there were no groups from Iceland, Belarus, Poland, Ukraine and Moldova, despite the strong folk tradition of those countries.
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References
External links
Europeade 2008 Martigny, Switzerland Europeade 2009 Klaipėda, Lithuania Europeade 2011 Tartu, Estonia Europeade 2015, Helsingborg, Sweden