History of the festival

In 1952, a celebration has been made for the 100th century of the first edition of Božena Němcová's novel "Babička" (The Grand-mother) at the castle's ruins Rýzmburk, that means quite at the place where the events of the novel were situated.

The stage has been built in a dry pond and the audience was sitting on the banks. I t was also the first performance of the folklore group Hadař. But nobody thinks that the celebration could have such a success, and the organisers had much to do with more than 5,000 persons.

Golden ageSo it was decided to repeat this festivity every year, as a harvest festival. The "golden age" was in the sixties and seventies time when Pr. František Bonuš took for 17 years the Festival direction and so increased much the cultural level. The Czech radio and television several times broadcast the Festival. After him, the direction was made by Věra Svobodová, by Hadař's leader Jiří Novák (11 years), Mr. Jaroslav Bárta and the last editions are conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Rejšek from Prague.

From 1960, the Festival has a performance at the Town Theatre on Saturday evening; some concerts of sacral music have been given in the churches, and so on… The Festival got the participation of many wellknown professional, half professional or non-professional groups from Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, and also many foreign groups from Finland, France, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Scotland, the ex-USSR and many others.

New place Till 1992, the Festival was organised at the same place, at Rýmburk-Žernov. But the area went into restitution, and it was necessary to find a new place, so from 1993 theFestival has been made inside the Town of Červený Kostelec, exactly at an outdoor theatre in the centre of the town. The Festival is now given into the list of the International Folklore Association, recognised by the UNESCO, and world wide announced.

In 2003 this organization gave the appeciation to the direktor of folklore festival to Mr. Medilek (contemporary the mayor of town Cerveny Kostelec). This appreciation was awarded for the promotion fo the peace between the people in all over the world and for the development folk art. This high appreciation is not only thanks for his effor, but also the contribution and the appreciation for all the town and for this festival.

For your information, in 1996, the Festival lasted for five days with more than 750 persons on the stage and ten groups from abroad.