The Festival of Brass Bands and Folklore Ensembles

The Festival of Brass Bands and Folklore Ensembles in Zlin (FEDO) is one of the three largest brass band festivals held in the Czech Republic and one of the biggest cultural events organized by the city of Zlin each year. The festival promotes Czech and Moravian music and folklore. The aim of the festival is to show listeners the full breadth and diversity of brass band music and folklore performed by amateur musicians from all over the Czech Republic in competition with foreign performers. For many ensembles, especially regional ones, participation in this festival is the culmination of their activities, with up to 10,000 spectators attending the event. It takes place once every two years and will reach its 20th anniversary in 2022. Since 2024, the statutory city of Zlín has taken over the organization of this event. The festival always takes place in the summer and usually lasts 4 days, with more than 30 ensembles from Czechia, Europe, and exotic foreign countries participating, which is around 1,000-1,500 performers. In total, more than 482 ensembles from 29 countries, including Mexico, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Sweden, have participated in FEDO in recent years. The individual programs are designed with a varied dramaturgy, alternating between brass bands and folk ensembles. In recent years, the festival has been trying to expand its audience by organizing concerts in the vicinity of Zlin. The festive parade of all performers through the center of Zlín on Saturday morning is usually very popular with spectators. The Big Concert, in which hundreds of musicians from various ensembles play together, following the joint parade, enjoys great popularity and acclaim.