Folklore as a Factor Contributing to the Polish-Czech Integration on the Example of the World Festival of the Polish Community Folk Groups

Abstract

In 2019 in Rzeszów the XVIII World Festival of the Polish community folk groups was held. The festivals have been organized since 1969, being the Song and Dance Group of Olza one of their most frequent participants. Rzeszów hosted other groups from the Czech Republic which were equally successful. The groups are widely-recognized in their own country receiving many prizes and awards in there. The paper indicates the different dimensions of Polish-Czech integration, namely personal, linguistic, educational, cultural and behavioral. The activities undertaken by the concert organizers as well as the individual effort of the participants and the audience alike made that creating the community, integration and building contacts between different nationalities, regions and cultures was possible. The main source constituted the materials collected at the Centre of Research on the Poles and the Polish community in the world of the University of Rzeszów as well as the press articles published locally and nationally.