The EtnoKrakow Festival: Encounters at the Crossroads of Cultures
The EtnoKrakow Festival: Encounters at the Crossroads of Cultures

Author(s): Karolina Golemo
Subject(s): Anthropology, Social Sciences, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Music, Sociology, Culture and social structure
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: EtnoKrakow/Crossroads festival; cultural diversity; encounters; ethnic music; COVID-19 pandemic
Summary/Abstract: The EtnoKrakow/Crossroads Festival has been held for over two decades, combining in its cultural programme different faces of traditional, ethnic and what is termed “world music” There is room for both a return to one’s musical roots and sources, as well as experimentation with tradition and surprising fusions of genres and styles. In addition to in crudo style creativity, hybrid genres such as ethnojazz, ethnoelectro or ethnorock regularly appear. Since the end of the 1990s each time this event took place, a space has been created for encounters, dialogue, and intercultural exchange. The aim of this chapter is to show the evolution of the EtnoKrakow/Crossroads Festival and the ideas of cultural diversity it conveys. The presented analysis is based in large part on interviews with festival organisers and participant observation carried out during its last three editions, namely: in 2019, 2020 and 2021. A separate part of this chapter is devoted to the challenges raised by the coronavirus pandemic and the resilience strategy chosen by the festival’s organisers during this difficult time.

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