folkfest
09.05.2026
13.00 - 17.00
ainsi lage kanaaldijk 112 maastricht
folkfest
FOLKFEST: our Eastern European/Balkan mini - festival!!!
Get ready for an afternoon of colourful culture, dance, creative workshops, food and stories…
This festival is donation based (cash only)
good to know
Are you planning to come by…
car : you can park for free in front of the building.
bike: it’s only 8 min from the stadspark.
bus: take the Belgian bus toward Liège.
accessibility
FOLKFEST: ons Oost-Europees/Balkan mini-festival!!!
Maak je klaar voor een middag kleurrijke cultuur, dans, creatieve workshops, eten, verhalen…
FOLKFEST is op basis van donatie en is alleen !! CASH !!
goed om te weten
bereikbaarheid
Kom je met de…
auto: parkeren kan gratis voor de deur
fiets: het is maar 8 minuutjes vanuit het stadspark
bus: pak dan de Belgische bus richting Liège
artists
Vladyslava (Vlada) Sylenok is a person who happens to write poems, short stories and essays. Precise wording and short-form writing comes most naturally to her. Currently she is searching for her style and voice whilst thinking, speaking and writing in four languages. Her art comes from navigating life on the border between her post-soviet upbringing, contemporary Ukrainian culture and Western world that she once longed for, and the one that has suddenly fallen upon her four years ago. Expectedly, the themes of her work revolve around home, belonging, identity and healing.
Vladyslava Sylenok
Once upon a time, four men set off far from home in search of Paradise—but which path would they choose? Join Stella, a Greek professional storyteller, for an interactive storytelling experience where the story and its characters come alive through voice, rhythm, and your participation… will they find paradise?
stella goultidou
Hello, my name is Tsveta and I am presenting my traditional dress (nosiya) worn by the Pomak ethnic minority in the Rhodope mountain region of Zlatograd. The nosiya of this region is comprised of four main parts; the riza (chemise/underdress), the krupa (a white patterned short top with puffy sleeves), mendil (black apron), and basma (a long-sleeve patterned dress top with two front tails). The beaded jewelry is also typical of the area and serves as an additional aesthetic and protective measure for the owner. Traditionally, the slight variation in presentation of the dress differs depending on the age, marital status, and village of the young woman. Please feel free to approach me and ask me any questions
Tsveta Lutz
In her film photography, Veronica Yakimovich draws inspiration from still landscapes and scenes of mundanity. In this curation, she collected layered environments from her upbringing in Eastern Europe, distant in memory but close to the heart, characterised by soft yet contrasting shades and textures.
veronica yakimovich
Andra is a Romanian-born writer currently based in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Balancing a practical professional life as a Jurist at the Medicine Faculty within Maastricht University, with a deeply creative inner world, she writes with a focus on emotional intensity, psychological nuance, and layered storytelling. Her work often explores duality: accident versus intention, love versus harm, through dark, introspective narratives. Drawn to revision as much as creation, she treats writing as an evolving process, where meaning is shaped and reshaped rather than simply concluded.
She is currently working on her first book, After Words End, a literary psychological fiction, focusing on the exploration of perception, where the line between free will and control begins to fracture.
Andra-elena albisoru
Do you want to help out as a volunteer?
Sign up by using the form below.
want to volunteer?
vrijwilligen?
Wil je mee helpen met FOLKFEST als vrijwilliger?
Geef je dan op via onderstaand formulier.
„Nie za taką Polskę walczyłem”
„This is not the Poland i fought for”
A sentence heard at the dinner table, between plates and passing dishes, when you try to speak about love that doesn’t fit your grandparents’ expectations. You are met with silence. Something so personal turns into something political, something that needs to be defended.
Two women come together: one shaped by toughness, the other by softness and tradition. Their love is quiet but clear, existing even in a space that tries to deny it. Barszcz stains the white fabrics, breaking ideas of purity.
If this is “not the Poland you fought for,” then the question remains — who was that fight really for?
Jagna Kapturkiewicz
Hello! I’m Ash Avery and I come from a small town in the south of Poland. I’ve been surrounded by creativity since early childhood, as handcraft is a central part of the culture I grew up in.
Since then I’ve developed passion for all sorts of creative works. That diversity of interest is very inherent to Polish folk cultures where even most ordinary of objects were decorated in abundance of ways, natural resources turned into beautiful artworks decorating our homes, and communities connected through handcraft.
During FOLKFEST, I will help you immerse yourself into Polish folk through painting. You will have a chance to put Polish folk drawings back to life through practice of the patterns found in our decorative art.
Ash Avery
Historically, pająki were created by rural communities in Poland as festive decorations, especially for holidays like Christmas and Easter. They were believed to bring good luck, harmony and protection to the home gently moving with the air and adding life and color to everyday spaces. Each region developed its own unique styles, patterns and color combinations.
In this hands-on workshop, you’ll:
Learn about the cultural history and symbolism behind pająki
Explore traditional techniques using simple, natural materials
Create your own vibrant, geometric hanging ornament to take home
No experience is needed — just a willingness to slow down, create and connect with a meaningful artistic tradition.
Anna Anna Zolkowska
Simone and Vlasto will be making traditional Macedonian food, that will send you right back to the memory of family dinners at your grandma’s place. Food for the soul with vegan options!
Simone & Vlasto
Hello, my name is Anisa Aliu. I am a student from Kosovo currently living in Maastricht. The series of images I have chosen to display does not belong to a single moment in time, nor were they taken from the same roll of film. Rather, this exhibition brings together fragments of experiences situated between Vlorë, Albania, and Prishtina, Kosovo.
After living in Kosovo for eighteen years, I moved abroad to pursue my studies and, around the same time, began practicing film photography. Returning home during holidays, I started to notice through my camera how the moments that once felt ordinary had become deeply precious. Scenes I used to witness every day transformed into frames of artistic and emotional value. Distance and longing, in a way, intensified their meaning.
Anisa Aliu
Hi! I’m Mare, half Macedonian, half Dutch. I grew up here in Maastricht, where the Balkan 50% of me really misses the culture, food, music and of all those summers I spend with my family in Macedonia. I felt like Maastricht was lacking a bit of Balkan/Eastern European cultural representation. A place where we can appreciate and celebrate our culture, instead of constantly fighting prejudices…
So in search for more knowledge about my own culture (so far away) and the need to connect with more people who share the same feeling; I organised FOLKFEST!
I hope you have a great time at this 1 day festival, and feel a little less homesick after.
Oh btw…
You don’t have to be from this culture to join us, a feeling of home is universal, and we’d love to share a little piece of ours with you