The international folk contest-festival “The Flower of the Sun” held in Šiauliai received high international recognition – at the General Congress of the International Federation of Dance Festivals FIDAF held in South Korea, where the results of the previous year are reviewed and summed up every year, together with two Polish and Philippine international festivals, it won the best festival of 2023 name!
International folk contest-festival organized by the association “Balts’ Centre” in Šiauliai deserved such a high award and international recognition for its high artistic level, good feedback from the participants and excellent organization of the festival.
International Federation of Dance Festivals FIDAF, to which “The Flower of the Sun” festival was accepted in 2014, currently unites various festivals in as many as 86 countries and is the largest international festival organization in the world. The director of the international folklore contest-festival “The Flower of the Sun” Zenonas Ripinskis is elected to FIDAF Executive Committee. According to Z. Ripinskis, this high evaluation of our festival held in Lithuania was earned thanks to a large and consistent team of organizers. Z. Ripinskis: “Winning the award for the best festival of the year is not so easy, because every year there are many different festivals with old traditions in the world. This year, 11 world festivals were nominated for the title of the best festival of the year, but only four of them received the honorable award. We are happy that “The Flower of the Sun” organized by us, the people of Šiauliai, is one of them! It’s nice that more and more foreign artists are discovering our country, Šiauliai city. Certainly, the honorable award, which will be brought to Lithuania for the first time, will contribute even more to that.”
The 20th jubilee X International Folklore Contest-festival “The Floer of the Sun” will be held in Šiauliai on July 1-7 in 2025. It is expected that folk performers and professional ensembles from 10-15 countries and over 400 performers from Lithuania will participate in it.
I congratulate the entire team of “The Flower of the Sun” organizers on a great award!
