The Dravsko proljeće Folklore Festival in Sopje

Abstract

Croatia and Hungary have a centuries-old relationship, and although political systems have defined their boundaries, shared memories and cultural heritage remain. The river Drava has become a place of such sociocultural sharing, among the Sopje residents on the Croatian side and Podravina Croats on the Hungarian side. In early 2000, cultural artistic societies began to meet informally, culminating in the 2007 official annual shared folklore festival called Dravsko proljeće (Drava Spring/Drávai tavasz). In this paper I present Dravsko proljeće through the pluralism of dichotomies arising from the perspective of festival actors, local policy, regional competitiveness and European cohesion.

Keywords: Dravsko proljeće (Drava Spring/Drávai tavasz), folklore festival, Podravina Croats, Sopje