Okarina Festival Bled
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25 Oct 2017
29 Oct 2017
A national stand presenting Slovene music, organised by SIGIC, Slovene Music Information Centre, presenting a new compilation CD Tuning into the World: Slovenia, participating also Cankarjev dom, Druga godba Festival, Okarina Festival Bled and Glitterbeat Records
at the WOMEX, the World Music Expo
The festival is currently held at two venues – the Bled Castle and the so called Bled Promenade, a grassy beach besides the lake, where on can listen to the concerts free of charge. Additionally, the Bled Festival Hall is used as a backup in case of rain.
Background
The founder of the festival is Leo Ličof, who even after half a century still acts as the main (and only) organizer and the artistic director of the festival. He set up its first few editions at the grounds of the restaurant he then ran on the shore of Lake Bled, and in the following years the festival moved through various locations around Bled. While there only a few bands on the bill at the start, the festival progressively got a lot bigger and so did the names hosted. Some of the artists from the first decade of the festival were the UK folk bands Fairport Convention and Pentangle and the singer Marta Sebastian (HU).
Programme
The festival invites all sorts of musicians, from flamenco bands to qawwali artists, from Irish folk and US blues to jazz influenced Moroccan gnawa music. The festival line-up has in recent years featured Aziz Sahmaoui (MA), Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita (SN, UK), Ester Rada (IL), Orquesta Revé (CU), Osibisa (UK), Tenores di Bitti (IT), Barcelona Gipsy Klezmer Orchestra (ES), Taksim Trio (TR), Earl King Boogie Band (UK), Frankie Lane (IE), Big Daddy Wilson (UK) and Esme Redžepova (MK).
Of the local artists performing here, one can name Brina, Neca Falk, Kontrabant and – numerous times – VLado Kreslin.