Vocal-instrumental concert of the ensemble under the leadership of the conductor Dražen Kurilovčan, will be held on the July 16^th. The same ensemble will open the folklore program of the Festival on July 17^th.
 
Ensemble of the Croatian national dances and songs, LADO, is a professional folklore ensemble founded in 1949, with a goal of researching, collecting, artistic edition, and scene performances containing some of the most beautiful examples of the rich Croatian music and dance tradition. Top-level dancers, 37 of them, which are also terrific singers, are easily transformed from dance ensemble to representative folklore choir while 15 great musicians play approximately fifty traditional and classical instruments.
In their work, LADO gathers the most famous Croatian ethnochoreologists and choreographers, ethnomusicologists, musical arrangers and folklorists, but also compositors and conductors inspired by folk music creation.  All this has resulted in imposing choreographic and musical repertoire of more than a hundred different choreographies and several hundreds of vocal, instrumental and vocal-instrumental numbers. With their repertoire, LADO presents the Croatian heritage arising at the intersection of cultures, enriched by Mediterranean, Balkan, Pannonnian, and Alpine influences.
The ensemble LADO possesses a unique collection of original folk costumes of the exceptional value (more than 1200 sets). Some of them are more than hundred years old and that is why LADO is often called “travelling museum”.   Festival audience will have the opportunity to enjoy this unique and authentic Croatian ensemble, who is celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the existence.