International children folk festival Kunovské léto [ Folklore festival FoS CZ ]
International children folk festival "Kunovské léto", Kunovice the Municipality of Uherské Hradiště, the District of Zlín, the conurbation of Uherské Hradiště-Kunovice-Staré Město The children folk festival arose in 1994 from the iniciative of the former members of the folk group Kunovjan together with their endeavour to create a new tradition in the presentation of children folk in the region which has rich folk movements. It is held every year in June, the week before our most prominent annual festival - the International Folk Festival in Strážnice. The organiser is the civil association "Kunovjan", represented by the major initiator and the author of the conception and programme of the festival Romana Habartová. The festival is not aimed only to the presentation of the children folk groups from the region of Slovácko, Moravia, Silesia and Bohemia., The festival is known as an international festival after its firstregionalparade.Thefirstshowwasattendedbylocal groups of Handrláček, Handrlačky and Děcka of Kunovice, Hradišťánek and from Uherské Hradiště, Štěpnička from Veselí nad Moravou, Šohajek from Vlčnov, Valášek from Zlín and both Olšinka from Orlová and Jičiňáček from Jičín as the guests. The festival has been known as an international festival since the year of 2000. It has been attended by at least 180 children groups from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia, Armenia, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Bulgaria, Mexico, Turkey, Congo and the number of professional or non-professional dancers, musics and artists. The festival has gained an international appreciation. The international plenary session of CIOFF accepted "Kunovské léto" as its member in October 2004. The membership in this organization is the great acknowledgement of the professional, artistic and organizational level of the children folk festival "Kunovské léto". It is not only the appreciation, but also a great deal for the organisers to keep the high standards for the future. The composition of the festival is designed to provide the social-promotive and the representative aspects as well as some competitions (in choreography, in singing, in the specificdisplaysofboys- verbuňk, sport skills and intellect).The dancers of verbuňk and talented singers perform also in the International Folk Festival in Strážnice. As concerned to the accompanying activities we focus on the drawing of the attention to common crafts and traditional handmade products. We also try to introduce particular representatives of the tradition and its followers. The example is the price of Vladimír Bouček for the preservation and development of common artistic manufacture. The price is awarded by the representatives of Uherské Hradiště. The festival is accompanied by a number of various programmes - concerts, exhibitions, competitions, workshops, symposiums with own entries such as publishing of collections, publications, DVD, videos, MC and CD. The organiser and guarantor of the festival is the community of the town of Kunovice, coorganiser and supporter is the town of Uherské Hradiště, Staré Město, the Ministry of Culture, the District of Zlín, Slovak Museum in Uherské Hradiště, European funds, Programme of the recovery of the country and the School of the village in Modra, FoS ČR, foundations and sponsors.
