2019 Boulder Balkan Bash Rocked!

On November 2, 2019 nearly four hundred people gathered at the Avalon Ballroom in Boulder to celebrate the eighth Boulder Balkan Bash.  Bashes are giant extravaganzas powered by local ensembles playing Eastern European and Balkan folk music for dancing. 

This year’s Bash showcased the combined strengths of six local music ensembles: Klezmerize, Sherefe, the Bitōvniks, Planina—Songs of Eastern Europe, Barbelfish, and Gora Gora Orkestar.  Each group gave a unique performance that made it hard to stay in your seat!  In attendance were dancing guests from at least a dozen Colorado recreational and performance dance groups, including some who have been around for the past 45+ years as well as numerous children and young adults new to the scene.

Young and old, beginners and seasoned dancers, took hands and circled the hall as the captivating melodies soared out over the crowd. There was plenty of sitting room for the non-dancers and those who wanted to sit out a few tunes and snack. The potluck tables were loaded with food. It was a wonderful, old-world-style party in a time that can use this kind of community celebration.

The Boulder Balkan Bashes began in the late nineties, with visiting musicians giving workshops for local performers and playing at a splashy Saturday evening party. After a 15-year hiatus, Bashes were reborn at the Avalon when Planina celebrated its 25-year anniversary in 2013.  From the first Bashes, held in 1996, 1997, and 1998, this event has steadily grown into one of the largest, if not the largest, Eastern European folk dance event in the region. 

The Bash is the product of a significant organizational effort, including dozens of volunteers, performers and paid staff. Planina’s membership in the Boulder Dance Coalition (the organization that runs the Avalon) has made it practical to host the event at the beautiful Avalon Ballroom. And in recent years support from the Alex Wilson Legacy Fund (AWLF) has helped organizers refine their business model so that a financially self-sustaining Bash is now within reach. Many thanks to the AWLF!

Praise for the 2019 Bash: 

“Playing at the Bash reminds us why we picked up our horns in the first place.”  —Tung Pham, Director of Gora Gora Orkestar

“The music was wonderful. We were impressed by the large turnout . . . and that so many stayed to the end. We heard many comments by fellow dancers who are not folk dancers of how impressed they were by the music and the dancing. It was so wonderful to see so many ‘spectators’ who ventured to join in some dances.”  —Arnie and Anne Guminski

“This is the best bash ever!”  Ilona Bar-Or, BIFD folk dancer