For the first time ever, in the oldest Albanian community in the United States, ancient Albanian folkore and costumes from different regions of Albania will be in full display.  The Massachusetts Albanian American Society (MAASBESA) and Bashkimi Dance Group are proud to announce the First Annual Massachusetts Albanian Folk Festival to be held at Boston’s Strand Theatre on June 5th.
The Folk Festival follows in the history of earlier festivals in Worcester and Boston organized by other Albanian organizations, and will feature acts that represent the rich and diverse nature of Albanian folklore in addition to the traditional costumes of various regions of Albania and Kosova.  Albanian dance and song groups from New York, Detroit, and Boston will headline the show, along with well known Albanian singers Aurela Gace and Xhoni Athanas.
The festival will bring alive a colorful celebration of Albanian culture to the stage of the Strand Theatre to an audience of over 1000 people.  The Festival will appeal not only to all Albanians regardless of their region of origin who are proud of their Albanian heritage and customs, but also to non-Albanians who are curious about Albanian Folklore.  This and future festivals will help to preserve Albanian culture and also present it to the wider non-Albanian communities in Massachusetts.
Directors
Show Director: Astrit Cerma
Artistic Director: Bashkim Braho       
Singers
Aurela Gace was born in Abania and started singing at the age of four. From her young age, Aurela won many singing competitions, foreshadowing her success as an adult singer. In 1993, she participated in a yearly music festival held by the National TV in Tirana, which was the biggest musical event of the year. Her voice was immediately noticed, and Aurela became increasingly popular on that stage where she returned almost yearly.   Although pop music brought Aurela to the singing stage and gave her an immense success, Aurela’s specialty relies in the fact that she performs Albanian Folk music from many regions with the same emotion and intensity. This is a rare ability for Albanian artists, for the two genres of music vary greatly, but Aurela has greatly mastered this challenge. In 2002, she moved to New York to challenge herself and pursue singing on Albanian-American stages, where she was warmly welcomed.  She travels back and forth between the stages of Albania and America- in a way serving as a connection of the arts between the two communities.
Xhoni Athanas is an extraordinary talent with a still sweetly melodious voice even after decades of singing.  Mr. Athanas was born in Massachusetts, but returned to Albania as a young child where his father noticed his musical talent and pushed him to singat the local church, as well as join the “Korca Folk Song” group.  Mr. Athanas moved to Tirana in 1947, where he joined the Albanian Military Chorus. The Chorus toured in Albania and in many Eastern European countries, and Mr Athanas e