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10 acts from 7 countries, three nights.

  1. Friday
  2. Saturday
  3. Sunday

Friday 2 October

Augustas Černiauskas with his accordion in a wooden barn

Rhythmic Connections

Augustas Černiauskas

Friday 18:00 Lithuania

Behind the code name is Augustas Černiauskas, a Lithuanian musician who plays both traditional Lithuanian dance melodies and his own balfolk compositions. He opens the festival's first dance night.

Augustas is passionate about folk, balfolk and traditional music, and his love of dance shows in his energetic performances and his dance workshops. He loves to improvise, weaving together Lithuanian tunes, melodies from elsewhere and original pieces born of balfolk rhythms.

In the programme: Friday 18:00
Anna and Roberto climbing an icy mountain gully

Streja Bona

Friday 20:00 Italy

A roast of forgotten dances from the Bolognese valleys, drizzled with a spiced reduction and paired with a local harvest of European balfolk — that is how Streja Bona describe what they are bringing. We are very curious to taste it.

This is Streja Bona's first performance ever, which makes their festival debut a particularly special one. Anna and Roberto are teaching workshops at the festival too.

Anna
violin
Roberto
bass guitar
In the programme: Friday 20:00
Andrejs Grimms playing classical guitar, and Paula Ābele with a mandolin on her back

Paula Ābele & Andrejs Grimms

Friday 22:00 Latvia

From our neighbours in Latvia. Paula and Andrejs have played together since 2016, their music rooted in traditional dance tunes from around the world and in the absolute freedom of their imagination.

The first hour is Paula's solo: mandolin, harmonium, bagpipes and voice, each one alone. Some of these instruments were never meant to play alone — but balfolk lets you take away all the drum and bass and start listening to the music, and hopefully to yourself.

In the second hour the well-known Latvian classical guitarist Andrejs Grimms joins her, and together they will make you cry the last tear and sweat your guts out, with melancholy and joy.

Paula Ābele
mandolin, harmonium, bagpipes, voice
Andrejs Grimms
classical guitar
In the programme: Friday 22:00

Saturday 3 October

Sylvain Pool playing the accordion inside a yurt

Canibal

Sylvain Pool

Saturday 18:00 France

One accordion, one voice, a kick drum at his feet, and sometimes a few guests. Sylvain Pool takes on the solo challenge to get you dancing and singing.

Expect rondes, waltzes, circles, scottishes and mazurkas, with a special fondness for the traditional dances of the Poitou region — maraîchine, avant-deux, mardi-gras, bal limousine, bransle de Noirmoutiers, marchoise — and plenty of his own compositions, freshly cooked up by the chef himself.

Sylvain Pool
accordion, voice, kick drum
In the programme: Saturday 18:00
The folklore ensemble Gilė on stage with their instruments

Gilė

Saturday 20:00 Lithuania

Some Lithuanian traditional music too: the folklore ensemble Gilė — Lithuanian for acorn — from Kaunas Jono Pauliaus II Gymnasium. Active for 33 years, Gilė is a frequent guest at festivals in Lithuania and occasionally abroad.

The Giliukai, the "little acorns", perform traditional songs, dances and instrumental pieces, often experimenting and giving folk songs a contemporary twist. They find meaning not only in performing but in keeping traditions alive through calendar and family celebrations.

three violins, three mandolins, cimbalom, drum, percussion, guitar and bass guitar

In the programme: Saturday 20:00
L’air inconnu on a wooden terrace with guitar, accordion and violin

L’air inconnu

Saturday 21:00 France / Switzerland

A close-knit, creative trio devoted to today's traditional dance, curious ears, and all forms of life, wild and domestic alike.

Their compositions and arrangements of traditional tunes are inspired by the powerful emotions of balls and festivals: the joy of meeting others, intimate poetry, the sheer force of sound, the energy of bodies in motion, collective trance.

Fabien Bucher
guitar, mandolin, vocals
Dani Velasco
violin, vocals
Sylvain Pool
accordion, guitar, kick drum, vocals
In the programme: Saturday 21:00
Hartwin Trio among pine trees with cello and accordion

Hartwin Trio

Saturday 23:00 Belgium

Led by the melancholic, imaginative melodies of diatonic accordionist and composer Hartwin Dhoore, and joined by Flavia Escartin on cello and Pavel Souvandjiev on violin, the trio brings together three distinctive musical voices.

Their music is a tightrope dance between classical, folk and world music, played by three outspoken characters who constantly challenge and complement each other. Hartwin's recognisable melodies and the driving, surprising arrangements of Flavia and Pavel make a dazzling play of sounds, best discovered live.

Hartwin Dhoore
diatonic accordion
Flavia Escartin
cello
Pavel Souvandjiev
violin
In the programme: Saturday 23:00

Sunday 4 October

Valentin Barray at the keyboard, in black and white

Valentin Barray

Sunday 18:30 France

A pianist based in Rouen, France. Since 2015 his music has kept dancers moving at bals folk and festivals across France and Europe. Playing his own compositions — sometimes from the very centre of the dance floor — he turns the piano into the beating heart of the bal, with dancers circling and swirling as if around a midsummer bonfire.

Blending the driving pulse of traditional dance with a rich, deeply emotional piano language, his music carries dancers through waves of intensity, mystery and poetry. From calm and melancholic to veiled and intense, it often evokes the ocean, stirring passions or soothing them.

Valentin Barray
piano
In the programme: Sunday 18:30
Balsam in a forest, looking back over their shoulders, accordion and guitar on their backs

Balsam

Sunday 20:30 Poland

A balfolk trio of friendship and family, based in Poland. First and foremost they play for the dancers: energetic chapelloises, unifying hanter-dros, romantic waltzes and intimate mazurkas, composed and arranged with respect for the traditional pulses and a bravely creative approach.

Balsam goes its own way, combining dance music with self-written poetry sung in Polish — a subtle, emotionally honest and heartwarming journey for the dancers and for everyone listening away from the floor.

Ewa de Mezer
chromatic accordion, vocals, lyrics
Michał Zajączkowski-de Mezer
acoustic guitar, vocals
Jakub „Goldfinch“ Szczygieł
Irish flute, low whistle, tin whistle
In the programme: Sunday 20:30
A violinist playing with eyes closed on stage beneath the Infinitumball banner

Project Prometheus

Sunday 22:30 Lithuania

Violin, looper and live electronic experiments. Prometheus creates powerful music straight from the soul, inspired by Lithuanian, Amazonian Peruvian, Polish and other peoples' traditional music.

Dreamlike mazurkas, wild polkas, hypnotic rhythms and raw, otherworldly soundscapes invite you to lose yourself in the moment. Come dance. Come dream. Come wander between worlds.

violin, looper and live electronics

In the programme: Sunday 22:30