Festival parade and the inaugural concert

Two trembitas and one Podhale horn... and after a while a Lach band takes over the sound...

Here comes the parade... They would probably want to wend their way around the whole town. And probably the whole town would like them to wend their way around. But if that is out of the question, let us at least have the very heart of Nowy Sącz - the Old Market Square with the Town Hall... They are coming in from the parish church, turn right and then they “follow the road.” As they enter the Old Market Square, Krzysztof Trebunia-Tutka acts like a town crier, announcing each ensemble. They proceed in the order of the Festival national days, and the scene right before our eyes will, in some mystical way, meet the scene of the finale. But that is still so far away after all! Six whole days! After all, in a child's world, six days is an eternity.

They close the circle, like the circle of life, as they enter the stage. Each ensemble has their own delegation: someone with the name board; the foreign ensembles are carrying their flags, then follows the leader, and two children. And each group of four is announced by Krzysztof the Festival crier. 

Once everyone is on stage, the emcee sings a highland welcome, and Andrzej Zarych, the director of SOKÓŁ Małopolska Cultural Centre and of the Festival, surprises us with some statistics. It goes without saying: you can't beat the numbers, and how impressive they are! Three hundred ninety two young artists will present themselves this year; their performances will be possible thanks to 125 staff members; and then there is Piotr Droździk, the festival photographer, who takes hundreds, if not thousands, of photos every day .

The director of SOKÓŁ centre greets everyone and invits them to the Festival concerts, chiefly in Nowy Sącz, of course, but every day there will also be concerts in Krynica-Zdrój, Szczawnica, Limanowa, Ludźmierz and even Kraków. 

The moment when the FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS begins is the children's symbolic assumption of power over Nowy Sącz. The ceremony of the handing over of the town keys is attended by: Patryk Wicher - a Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Poland, Magdalena Majka - the Deputy Mayor of Nowy Sącz, Marta Mordarska - the Head of the Cultural Centre in Krynica-Zdrój, Julian Kowalczyk - the President of the Podhale Inhabitants’ Association and, of course, Rev. Dr Stanisław Kowalik - the Festival Chaplain.

Beautiful as ever, the large, ornate keys are the sign that it is the children who will rule the Nowy Sącz people’s hearts, opening them with song, music and their childhood nature. Patryk Rutkowski, the director of the festival concerts, presides over the joyful moment of handing over the artefacts. And now it is a comrade with a comrade, striking a key against a key. Music of the keys... It is the children who have the power in Nowy Sącz. 

The ensemble delegations leave the stage to the strains of ‘the little cuckoo,’ a traditional Lach song. Something has been accomplished... Does Nowy Sącz feel any different? Well, it is all up to us now; it all depends on how much we allow ourselves to be enchanted.

The artistic, concert part begins with the adult group of NISKOWIOKI, who burst into song and dance. And so again we can see a circle of life, like the parade today. Those who are dancing and singing themselves were children not long ago, and since it is the third time that MAŁE NISKOWIOKI - like every Polish ensemble this year - have attended the FESTIVAL, it is probable that the adults singing and dancing now on stage were here as participants eleven years ago.

Even the audience need a short breather, so after NISKOWIOKI's performance Patryk Rutkowski welcomes Liliana Olech, professional art deputy director at MCK SOKÓŁ, and Piotr Gąsienica, cultural heritage deputy director and the Festival organisational manager.

The melody of zbójnicki played on a pipe is the herald that now a group representing the BUDORZE Construction School Complex from Zakopane will take to the stage, dancing and brushing their kiyrpce against the stage surface. Some people say that something needs to happen twice only to become the so-called new secular tradition. And so it can be said that it has been a tradition for a year now for the FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS to include a performance by an ensemble from the International Festival of Highland Folklore, and MALI WIYRCHOWIANIE from Bukowina Tatrzańska are going to Zakopane in August to take to Giewont a touch of the atmosphere of the July days in Nowy Sącz.

Several minutes ago we watched a performance by an adult ensemble from Niskowa - those who used to be children - and now MAŁE NISKOWIOKI have taken to the stage... some of them are not even ten years old. But it won't be long before they become adults, though it's probably an eternity for them. And they will be building the peace of our world.

And since the hosts have joyfully ushered in the time of the performances by the Festival ensembles, we are now watching short, five-minute presentations of all the ensembles. In this fixed order in which they will hold sway over the Amphitheatre in the Riflemen’s Park until Friday. And on Saturday we will see them all together again. They will be seemingly the same, and yet different, because for a child, six days is... well, you know...