LJOUWERT, 21 November 2014
At Friday 12 December 2014 the 10th edition of Liet International will take place in the North-German city Oldenburg. After the participation of Föfftig Penns in Liet International 2009, the festival Plattsounds started in Oldenburg, the song contest for songs in Low German. The organisers of this festival and theatre Kulturetage are very pleased with Liet International 2014 taking place in Oldenburg.
At least 11 acts from 11 different regions in Europe will perform their song in as many different regional and minority languages. This are:
- “Forefingers Up! – A new Balentia’s joint” from Sardinia combines rap and funk in an explosive mixture. They won the song contest SUNS (open for regional and minority languages from Italy, Austria and Switzerland) in 2013.
- “Aila-duo” with Heli and Jessika won the Sami Grand Prix this year. They represent the Sami from Finland.
- Bagpipe band “Banda Gaitas El Trasno” won the Premiu Meyor Cantar in Asturias (north of Spain) this year. They will be 27 musicians on stage!
- “Bruno Rummler” won the Frisian song contest Liet this year.
- “Willie Campbell” won the song competition for Scots and Gaelic writers in Scotland. He will sing in Gaelic.
- “Martina Iori” just won SUNS 2014 on 15 November. She is 18 years old and from Val di Fassa in the north of Italy, where the regional language Ladin is spoken.
- “Marina Sadova” is from the Mari El Republic, which is part of the Russian Federation, and sings in the Mari language. She will be accompanied by a band.
- The duo “Adnoz” from Brittany. These two young women were proposed by the winner of Liet International 2012, Lleuwen Steffan.
- “Bandalheira” sings in Minderico, a very small language in Portugal which in origin was a secret language spoken by textile producers and traders. It is the first time Minderico is represented at Liet International.
- “Gwilym Bowen Rhys” is a 22 year old musician from Wales. He plays in Welsh language groups and bands since he was 14, but has recently gone solo as well. He is also proposed by Lleuwen Steffan.
These 10 will be accompanied by 1 more act. On 29 November the regional song contest for Low German Plattsounds takes place in Oldenburg, at the same theatre as Liet International 2014 2 weeks later.
A huge delegation from the Russian Federation shows how much they value Liet International. Of course there are the musicians from the Mari El Republic, but they are supported by the International Fund “Russiane” from Moscow. Also the organisers of the festival for regional and minority languages in Italy, Austria and Switzerland SUNS will attend Liet International 2014 with a delegation.
As a prelude to the festival on Friday evening, on Thursday 11 December a conference on regional language is organised by the University of Oldenburg. Several language scientists from institutes in both Germany and The Netherlands will share their knowledge on for example Low German, East Frisian, Gronings and Frisian. This conference is open for everyone.
The song festival for regional and minority languages Liet International is a Frisian (North of the Netherlands) initiative and is organised for the first time in the capital of Friesland, Ljouwert/Leeuwarden in 2002. Since 2006, the festival travels around Europe and since 2008, under the patronage of the Council of Europe. Liet International attracts each year a lot of media-attention – from BBC to Al Jazeera – and grew to one of the biggest events for the promotion of regional and minority languages. In 2012, the latest edition of Liet International took place in the Asturian city Xixón/Gijón, in the north of Spain.
Not for publication:
If you have questions regarding this press release, you can call the president of foundation Liet International, Yvonne Bleize. Her phone number is: +31 611039494.
E-mail: lietint@gmail.com
Website: www.liet-international.com
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