Hello, how are you? I am very well. I started to write this edition the night before travelling again to Istanbul for the concert by Ali Doğan Gönültaş. I have continued writing it there and am sending it once back.

The photo illustrating these words today is from last Sunday there in Istanbul, with Kutay Derin Kuğay and with Ali. I talked about Kutay in the previous edition. This meeting was a delight for me as Kutay, as a panelist of Transglobal World Music Chart, told Ali to submit his album for the chart and that is how I learnt about Ali. After that we started a collaboration for his internationalization that is being very fruitful. Besides this, Kutay has done amazing things throughout his life, so at some point he will take center stage in this space.

After the postponement due to the earthquakes, Ali’s concert took place on 14th of April. Finally it has been possible and we have recorded it in multi-camera video, so soon I will start to spread some bits and pieces. The effects of the tragedy have not gone away and there is still a need for assistance in the region. Ali and a host of other artists will be performing at a charity festival between the 21st and 23rd in Istanbul. You have more information here.

But somehow in this edition several contents related to Italy have come together. The truth is that there are a handful of professionals in the country who are adding a lot of fuel to the fire. The presence of Puglia Sounds has been a regular feature in professional circles for some time now. More recently, initiatives such as Italian World Beat are gaining momentum, and this year they will be holding an international professional event for the third time (which will be held in Naples for the second time). I will talk about Calabria Sona soon. And in this edition we pay attention to two very interesting initiatives. On the one hand, the veteran festival Folkest, which takes place in the Friuli region, starts a new initiative with an international showcase accompanied by professional activities. Andrea del Favero gives us many more details. And, on the other hand, we talk about the Rete Italiana Della World Music, with a summary of the presentation they made at Babel Music XP and some statements I asked Erasmo Treglia, who is a member of the board of directors. This is not the only thing about Italy. Read on to find other content specifically about an event in Italy, with an open call.

Some time ago Piero Cremaschi, the person in charge of the technical side of Folkest, told me about a new line of activity inside the festival, that would include an international showcase festival and some other activities related to this. It breaks my heart not to be able to attend. On the same dates is Czech Music Crossroads, where I have to be this year. See the news below: Mapamundi Música is in charge of the participation of the artists from Spain as the guest country of this edition. But I didn’t want to stop paying attention to Folkest’s initiative and share it with you.

I would therefore like to thank Piero for this and for facilitating contact with Andrea del Favero to shed more light on this initiative and also on another topic that seems to me worthy of attention: that of minority languages and, in particular, Friulian, which is the language spoken in their region. By the way, Andrea del Favero is a key person for folk arts in Italy with a fascinating bio, of which you can learn more here.

Folkest International Folk Music Festival will take place this year from 15th of June to 3rd of July in different locations of the Friuli region. Its first edition was in 1979.

Before we begin the talk with Andrea, let’s give a few hints about the festival’s proposal, which will help us to frame Andrea’s words. From their own website (original in Italian, translation by me):
“The history of Folkest, a success achieved thanks to the undoubtedly high quality of the invited artists, to the novelty constituted by the presence of unprecedented musical traditions, to the collaboration with other social and cultural operators in the area, to local cultures and languages, within the framework of that great beacon of civilization that for centuries was the Patriarchate of Aquileia. Folkest will travel the length and breadth of highways and mountain paths, bringing everywhere a thoughtful choice of musical examples that tell us about the borders of this Old Continent of ours in a succession of songs from cultures ranging from Magna Graecia to Finland, from Ireland to the Balkans, which tell ancient legends and common stories, stories of heroes and simple people that belong to everyone and are part of the cultural pride of peoples. They are often the same stories, albeit declined in different languages.“

Without further ado, I give Andrea the floor.

Mapamundi Música: The Folkest has been running since 1979. Now in 2023, you guys started a new branch of the activities, with the “Folkest Showcase”. I have several questions about this.
1.- After so many years of the festival, why did you guys decide to start this new part of the showcase? Which are the objectives? 

Andrea del Favero: We already had from 18 years a similar format, Alberto Cesa Award. But this was, and still is, for Italian Artists only. We wanted to open to all European musicians and we discussed some hypothesis together with some collegues from different European Countries. Then Covid arrived… but other friends were working on similar ideas and a new European Project was presented to EU and it worked. Now we are part of this Upbeat Platform, headed by Hangveto, together with Budapest Ritmo, PIN Music Conference, WOMEX, World Music Festival Bratislava, Saules Muzika Festival, Czech Music Crossroads, A to Jazz Festival, Tallin Music Week, Hide and Seek Festival, Méra World Music Festival, Pannonica Festival, Waves Vienna.

The UPBEAT platform is a financial and network support system for European festivals. The goal is to support new talent, support original language music, ensure sustainability and the strengthening of the European network of festival professionals.

2.- The call for proposals has been open from 11th of February until 1st of March. Unfortunately, I was not aware on time to be able to announce it in previous editions of the newsletter. Please, for future occasions, how can I and the readers be updated of the news about the call? 

ADF: This was really the first step and we did it very quickly using Upbeat network. In the future we want to involve all those who use to communicate news in the world of world music.

3.- How was the procedure of application?

ADF: A simple form on our site, very easy to fill out, containing biography, stage plan, photos and tax information.

4.- How many proposals have you received? From how many countries?

ADF: We received 63 proposals from Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Poland, Spain, Luxembourg, Holland, Albania.

5.- Related to the previous question, I’d like to ask you if you have established any set of indicators to analyze the evolution of the showcase festival in future editions. As this is the first edition, it would be great to gather some useful data to check the evolution along the future editions. That information will be very interesting for your guys and for the global community involved in this kind of musics.  

ADF: As a first indicator, we thought we would look at the number of registrations collected, states of origin of artists, and number of showcases offered. A second useful indicator for us is the number of delegates and industry professionals involved. We find it very interesting to monitor over time the number of artists participating in our showcases who are then booked by participating delegates for concerts at other festivals. 

6.- As this is going to be the first edition, it would be great if you guys have established a way to quantify the return of the investment. We have talked before about how complicated it is, because sometimes the return takes more than one year, because it contributes to the general branding of the artist that enhances the chances to be booked but you can’t draw a one-to-one link between the showcase festival and these results… Even so, considering that a relevant part of the return will not be identifiable, have you established any measures to trace it? 

ADF: Given that, as you say, it is not easy to assess the return on investment, we consider monitoring the number of times that showcase artists are booked for concerts at other festivals. The UpBeat platform is very helpful to us in this regard.

7.- Which are the conditions for the participant artists? I think there is an interesting debate about the issues related to the showcases, how there are artists that have the barrier of the costs of the travel, that may prevent some artists from applying. And how there are artists from specific countries and regions that are over-represented in this kind of event. There are showcase festivals that don’t cover anything besides the production of the stage, others pay a fee to cover some expenses… Which is your proposal on this? 

ADF: We cover the production of the stage, accommodation and 500€ for travel expenses.

8.- Can you announce the selected artists yet? If not, can you at least give us an idea of the origin of the artists? 

ADF: Sure. Here they are: Alessandro D’Alessandro (ITA), Alvise Nodale (ITA), Cuerdas y teclas (SPA), Gaudio Pace Duo (ITA), Triana y Luca (SPA), Wernihora (POL), i Sordi (ITA), Dettori Moretti (ITA), Jig Robots (ITA), Linda Rukaj (ALB), METE (ITA), Corte di Lunas (ITA), La Quadrilla (ITA). 

9.- Beside the concerts of the showcasing bands, which other activities are you going to include related to this new part of the festival? 

ADF: There will be workshops, meetings with authors, and meetings with professionals in the field. There will also be the final of the Alberto Cesa Prize the award dedicated to Italian musical projects that can give voice to one or more cultures from all over the world and other great concerts. 

MM: And this is about a totally different topic. Your website is in Italian, English and Friulian (Furlan, in that language). The issue of minority languages is something that I personally find very interesting and thrilling. I read in the Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, published by UNESCO, that the Friulian is recognized by the Italian authorities and it is potentially in danger. On the website of EndangeredLanguages.com I read that there are 350,000- 500,000 native speakers of Friulian, but from what I have seen about other languages, I think the data they show are overestimated. 

ADF: Folkest was born in 1979 as a festival of European Ethnic Minorities. All minority languages are in danger today, we know, but this is very old data, indeed. The University of Udine estimates 450/600 thousand speaking people and about 250 thousand people who don’t speak it but understand it. We also have about 2 million emigrants all over the world, mostly in France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Argentina, Australia. The half of these still speak in Friulian language.

MM: They say that “Many children learn the language, but often stop using it at school age”. 

ADF: This was true years ago, when we reached school age we were forced to speak only Italian. The Italian linguistic model was so strong, also due to the radio, television, newspapers, and many kids stopped using Friulian. I did the same for a couple of years too when I was at classical high school.

MM: As you are there, what is the situation in society? Is Friulian used in daily life? 

ADF: Friulian language is commonly used in everyday life in most of the Friuli area. Remember that today our region is called Friuli Venezia Giulia, but Venezia Giulia means Trieste and some other not Friulian speaking municipalities. We have some school lessons in Friulian language too.

MM: Besides having the website in Friulian, is there any other activity from the festival related to this language? 

ADF: Official languages in Folkest Office are Friulian and English, and some Italian sometimes 😉 …
When we introduce the concerts, we speak indifferently in Italian or Friulian.

After Babel Music XP I reviewed the recording of their talk to make this summary you have above and I sent a couple of questions more to Erasmo: 

Mapamundi Música: In the future, will you consider to open membership to organizations other than festivals, such as management agencies or theatres that program world music concerts? 
Erasmo Treglia: It is important for us to make our network stronger and more active in implementing its programme. In the future we would also like to associate other figures such as agencies, musicians, but we would like to have a more solid form first.

MM:  How can we keep up to date with your news?
ET: We are trying to set up a secretariat to inform all members but also anyone else who would like to be informed of activities, opportunities, programmes, etc. At the moment there are no plans for a newsletter but for communication via social media. Having an office and someone working at least bi-weekly for the network is undoubtedly the element that guarantees success. And we are working for this. 

I am thankful to Erasmo, who, as well as a festival director and member of the board of the Rete, is a very interesting musician and part of the wonderful band Acquaragia Drom. If you don’t know them, check this superb piece, the Tammurriata del Camafro, one of my favourite songs ever! 

• #1 for Balkan World Music Chart of the first quarter of 2023 is the album Dobrila & Dorian Duo 2.

In the previous edition I already mentioned that the date of this event coordinated by the European Folk Network will be 23 September. The team is working to set up a specific website and articulate ways to participate. In the meantime, for those of you interested in keeping up to date with practical details as they develop, you can register here.

The project is co-funded by the MusicAIRE programme. MusicAIRE is a European Music Council/Inova initiative with funds from the European Union – see more details of the programme awards here.