THE largest European traditional dance, music, and costume festival has set its sights on Perth for 2026.
Europeade is an annual celebration of traditional dance held in a different city each year, with more than 6000 people involved.
The festival which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year in Nuoro, Sardinia, is a showcase of folk dance and music from all over Europe.
President of the Europeade International Committee, Rüdiger Hess, is visiting Scotland this week to scope out Perth as the potential host of the festival next year.
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The UK hasn’t hosted the event in six decades, and it would be an opportunity for Scotland to experience cultural dances and music from all over Europe.
Europeade is a five-day festival that includes a ball, a parade, and a packed programme full of dance performances held on multiple stages throughout the host city.
Hess is a guest of the Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland (TRACS) during the Pomegranates Festival, which is a Scottish springtime festival that is focused on traditional dance and will be scouting Perth while he is here.
He also said he is looking forward to “enticing” dancers from all over Europe to Perth, and is looking to build a connection with Scottish dancers.
Hess said: "The long-lasting success of Europeade rests on the wealth of creativity and ethnic diversity in Europe, on our shared living traditions.
“I discovered Europeade for the first time in 1998 and was infected by the spirit of this great event from the start.
“Following the invitation of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and TRACS, I am looking forward to enticing over 6000 dancers from across Europe to bring their regional costumes, local traditional dances, and music to a host city in Scotland, as well as connecting with all the Scottish and world trad dance groups practicing in Scotland."
Established in 2022, Pomegranates provides a platform to showcase dance commissions and residencies accompanied by live music, poetry, and art.
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The festival also invites its audiences to participate in ceilidhs, workshops, tours, and talks about traditional dance from Scotland and across the world.
It also celebrates Scottish traditional dance and traditional dance practiced by cultural migrant communities across Scotland.
Steve Byrne, director of TRACS said: “At TRACS we are always looking to build new international partnerships with like-minded organisations who celebrate local traditional cultures, and Europeade is a wonderful example of this.
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“We are very excited to be working with the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland to bring the event to Scotland and the UK for the first time in 2026 and showcasing all that our own traditions have to offer.
“The 2026 event would be a welcoming gathering point for a huge range of cultural riches from across the European family, of which we still feel very much a part!
“We are especially pleased to welcome Rüdiger Hess to Scotland to experience the Pomegranates Festival this year and give him a flavour of how Scotland’s traditions engage with those from around the world.”
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