Balkan Trafik : THE Festival of European Southeast countries in Brussels

After the success of the first edition of Balkan Trafik in 2007 (over 3000 visitors!), the association 1001 Valises and the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels think even bigger.

On 27, 28 & 29 March 2008, the Centre will be full of various artists from all over the Balkans. With traditional and electro music, circus, dance, movies, happenings, workshops, Balkan wine tasting and exhibitors you will find yourself totally immersed in the Balkan culture.

The highlights of this second edition will be the exchange and the meetings through two exclusive shows:

- Balkan Zirkus.eu: a stunning show that gathers young circus artists from Belgium and from the Balkans. Top circus with the nostalgic Balkan touch.

- Tirana <=> Brussels: a musical creation directed by the Belgian-Albanian accordion virtuoso Gjovalin Nonaj. This concert will be performed by 40 artists from Northern and Southern Albania. A mixture of dance, polyphony and rhapsodies. 

But Balkan Trafik is also:

- a mixture of concerts, community parties, furious rhythms with amongst others electro music with DJ Gaetano Fabri or the Turbofolk party with Raki Balkan Sound System and the VJing of Legoman- entrancing traditional music with Burhan Öçal, Mostar Sevdah Reunion and Ljiljana Buttler, Parno Graszt, Ivo Papasov & His Wedding Band and also the brass band that won at Guca festival.

- workshops where you can try "Bal-Kan-Dance" with the modern ball of the Albanian group Tirana and also try various circus techniques with the artists of Balkan Zirkus.eu.

- unreleased documentaries : the festival will begin with the European preview of « Against The Stream », a gripping documentary about a boat gathering musicians by each stop on the Danube. These artists then compose and play together. The Danube Ship Orkestar will be there to accompany the film!
- « Sevdah - The Bridge that Survived», a BBC documentary about Mostar Sevdah Reunion, one of our leading groups.
- « Trumpet's Republic » is about Gvozden Rosic, the conductor of a little orchestra in a village in the middle of Serbia. He rehearsals for the Sabor Trubaca, the world’s biggest brass band contest.

- A festive immersion with Exhibitors, happenings, wine tastings, cheap flight tickets…  

The Balkan Trafik festival wants to distance itself from the usual clichés about the Balkans. They aren’t all guys with   kalachnikovs, says Nicolas Wieërs from 1001 Valises, and I want this festival to carry a different picture of the Balkans by showing the audience that there’s a lot happening among the artists and the people there, despite all political and economical problems.    

Thursday 27.03

Friday 28.03

Opening : 6 :00 p.m.   

Non-stop
Trio Ocarina: traditional wedding music by a family band from KosovoTirana: folk Albanian dances, Circus (Balkan Zirkus.eu) 

6:30 p.m. > 7:30 p.m. Dance workshopIntroduction to Albanian folk dancing. 

6:30 p.m. Film Trumpet's Republic (by Missio & Alessandro Gori)A documentary about trumpet bands in Serbia. 

7:30 p.m. Orkestar Mladi Braka Kadrievi (Macedonia/Belgium)In the Kadrievi family, music is passed down from father to son and from mother to daughter. A concert featuring the cream of the crop. 

8:00 Film Sevdah – The Bridge That Survived (by Mira Erdevicki)1993, Mostar: While the medieval bridge is destroyed, some musicians decided to unite, flouting ethnic and religious boundaries.(All musicians in the film are part of the group MSR, in concert here at the festival at 9:45 p.m.) 

8:30 Danube Ship Orchestra (Crimea, Bulgaria, Hungary)Enver Izmailov, Peter Ralchev and Kornél Horváth will be joined by three fellow members, among them a cymbalo virtuoso.  

9:45 p.m. Mostar Sevdah Reunion & Ljiljana Buttler (Bosnia)A blend of various influences (Slavonic, Turkish, Gypsy…), the sevdah is t Bosnia what fado is to Portugal or blues to the USA. MSR preserves and develops this heritage, together with the great Ljiljana Buttler, “mother of the Gypsy soul”.The film The Bridge that survived talks about this group.  

11:00 p.m. Burhan Öçal & Trakya All Stars featuring Smadj (Turkey)An international star, this virtuoso percussionist whose fame has spread from his native Turkey as far as the United States is joined here by master Gypsy instrumentalists from Thrace and the beats of DJ Smadj. 

00:15 a.m. Dejan Lazarevic Orchestra (Serbia)Every year in August the village of Guca hosts the biggest brass band competition in the Balkans. In 2007 Dejan Lazarevic won the Golden Trumpet, the audience prize as well as the prize for the most popular trumpet. 

01:00 a.m. Mitsoura (Hungary)It is the voice one notices first. Harsh, surprising, spellbinding, at once typical and exotic. It is the voice of the film Gadjo Dilo. Mitsoura’s music is varied and daring, drawing on a wide range of influences. 

01:00 a.m. Raki Balkan Sound System: Turbo Folk PartyBrass bands and grooves, Gypsy folk, Turkish ska, Yugoslav disco, Gypsy punk…a cosmopolitan mix of Balkan turbo-folk genres.  

Saterday 29 March

Opening : 1:00 p.m. 
Workshops Registration from 1 :00 p.m. (BOZAR STUDIOS counter) 

2:00 p.m.> 3:30 p.m. Balkan Circus (Zirkus.eu) & École supérieure des arts du Cirque (ESAC)
3:00 p.m. > 4:30 p.m. Jeu Cultionary : MRAX
4:00 p.m. > 5:00 p.m. Music : Orkestar Mladi Braka Kadrievi
5:00 p.m. > 6:00 p.m. Dance: Tirana Non

Trio Ocarina: traditional wedding music by a family band from KosovoTirana: folk Albanian dances, Circus (Balkan Zirkus.eu) 

4:00 p.m. Balkan Zirkus.eu
A completely new festive spectacle, the result of a long-term exchange, involving young circus folk from Albania, Belgium, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia. 

6:30 p.m. Orchestre International du Vetex (Belgium)20 musicians from Courtrai. A passionate mix of infectious Balkan, frenetic Gypsy and Latino music with klezmer, ska and polka.

7:30 p.m. Parno Graszt (Hungary)Hungary is not part of the Balkans but has a great music tradition like they prove with Parno Graszt, Hungarian Gypsy Roots : a high-energy sound created with traditional instruments (including the spoons) with the human voice used as percussion. 

8:45 p.m. Tirana <=> Brussels (Albania/Belgium)Accordionist Gjovalin Nonaj is the alchemist behind this ensemble of more than 40 Albanian and Belgian musicians and dancers. Folk music from the North and the South, dances, polyphony, solos, rhapsodies and more. A stunning blend: 100% Balkan Trafik.   

10:00 p.m. Ivo Papasov & His Wedding Band + accordionist Nesho Neshev (Bulgaria)A veritable living legend, this superb clarinettist has raised wedding music to the highest level. His fast-paced music includes improvisation of every kind, with Gypsy and jazz in fluences. He is accompanied amongst others by accordionist Nesho Neshev. 

11:00 p.m. Original Antwerp Gypsy Ska Orchestra Seven – Special guests Jašarev Kurtiš & Demirali Agušev (Macedonia)These cousins of the Kadrievi have joined forces with local musicians to combine the Gypsy style with super-danceable ska rhythms. On clarinet and on saxophone: 2 masters of improvisation. 

00:30 a.m. Melodrom (Slovenia)An electro-pop discovery from Slovenia. First time in Belgium. 

01:00 a.m. DJ Gaetano FabriCarte blanche to our DJ in residence during his world tour.