Grenoble welcomes official Catalan institutions and organizations to participate in the annual Adifolk gathering

Grenoble (CNA)- The City of Grenoble has received official institutions and organisations for the 24th International Exhibition of Sardana, arranged by the Folklore Adifolk society. In amongst the crowd was the President of the Diputació de Lleida, Joan Reñée, the president of the Diputació de Barcelona, Salvador Esteve and CEO of Culture of the Generalitat, Lluís Puig. The organisers confessed their desires to continue investing in the promotion of Catalan culture within this event, which is held every year in a different European city. The official reception was chaired by the First Deputy Mayor of Grenoble, Alain Pilaud, and contained words of gratitude to the Catalan organizations involved, for bringing Catalan traditions for everyone to enjoy.

Meanwhile, the president of the Adifolk, Anthony Vineyards, said that the challenge is to drive popular culture in Europe without forgetting its historic roots. He was confident that the event would meet the expectations of the cultural city of Grenoble. Moreover, the CEO of Popular Culture of the Generalitat, Lluís Puig, stressed the need to ''be mindful of the responsibility'' of the government entities to defend popular culture all year-round. In this regard, he praised the work of more than 500 organizations working in nearly 1,000 municipalities in Catalonia for their contribution to the arts. In addition, Puig has campaigned for the survival for these entities during a ''difficult time'' of economic downturn and social divides. Meanwhile, the president of the Diputació de Barcelona, Salvador Esteve, also stressed the special importance of providing institutional support to contribute to popular culture in order that "our folklore can move beyond our borders.'' Mr Esteve has already presented this model of institutional support to the 25th Gathering which will take place next summer in the city of Budapest. The official ceremony, held in the City Hall, featured the exchange of artefacts of cultural importance between the institutions and organizations participating. This year five groups participated from Lleida. Overall however, over twenty societies from across Catalonia have made an appearance in Grenoble, demonstrating everything from the human castles to street theatre and much more. The start of the 24th gathering took place on Thursday at six o'clock in the Park Paul Mistral of Grenoble with an opening show where one could see Sardana, Giant, bestiary folk dances and stick dances. On Friday a parade is planned with the participation of all groups, castles, tavern songs and dances. Saturday will close the gathering with a sample of popular festivities including a concert of choral music and songs, and a final performance of tabalers.