Ukrainian Dance on Two Shores: Poland–Croatia Tour 2026
Ekołomyja 2026 and Croatia Folk Fest | Poland–Croatia, July 2–14, 2026
From July 2 to 14, 2026, Euroculture LTD led Ukrainian dance ensembles from Canada across two countries and three festival stages — from the Ekołomyja 2026 Ukrainian festival in Górowo Iławeckie (Poland) to the Adriatic coast of Croatia Folk Fest in Buje, Grožnjan, and Umag.
Between performances, the tour took participants through Warsaw, Kraków, and Zagreb, blending history, culture, and choreography into one continuous journey.
Twelve days, two festivals, and a shared stage for Ukrainian heritage — presented not as a memory of tradition, but as living art.
Ekołomyja 2026 — Górowo Iławeckie, Poland
On July 4, the ensembles took part in Ekołomyja 2026 — one of the most important festivals of Ukrainian culture in the region. The day opened with a workshop led by choreographer Maryna Rudyshyna and continued with a joint dance performance: three Canadian ensembles — Desna, Studio Shumka, and Myrnam — performed together with the Dumka ensemble from the Complex of Schools with Ukrainian as the Language of Instruction in Górowo Iławeckie (Poland). The festival day concluded with a lively concert by the Ukrainian band Mad Heads.
Music Without Borders: Celebration of Culture — Bartoszyce, Poland
One of the standalone festival stops on the tour was a performance on the stage in Bartoszyce, as part of the Music Without Borders: Celebration of Culture festival. This was not merely a stopover between transfers — it was a separate, full-fledged festival event: ensembles from various regions took part in a vibrant parade of ethno-folk groups in traditional costume, followed by a stage performance.
The tour’s third festival stop was the Istrian coast. The ensembles performed on St. Servolo Square in Buje alongside other festival groups, while the evening programs took place in the picturesque town of Grožnjan and at the Stella Maris venue in Umag. Each location had its own character — a medieval square, a stone artists’ town, and an open-air stage by the Adriatic — for the same unchanging choreography.
Participating Ensembles
The tour brought together dancers from the Ukrainian community in Canada along with partner ensembles from Ukraine:
- Desna (St. Paul, Alberta)
- Studio Shumka, choreographer Alisa Eugenio
- Myrnam
Journey Between the Stages
Beyond the three festivals, the tour’s route had its own story:
- A sightseeing tour of the Polish capital, Warsaw
- Auschwitz-Birkenau and the salt mine in Wieliczka, combining remembrance with a visit to one of Poland’s most striking underground landmarks
- A guided walking tour of Kraków
- Rovinj and the Lim Fjord — a sea excursion along the Croatian coast with swimming in the sea
- Pula — a guided tour and an evening dance workshop on Polissian dance led by Mykhailo Volodko from the town of Sarny, Rivne region, Ukraine
- The evening of July 13 in Zagreb marked a true festive finale to the journey. A closing banquet for invited guests was held at a Croatian konoba: a Croatian folk ensemble presented its own ethno-folk performance and then invited all present to join in the folk dancing. The evening concluded with the presentation of gifts and words of gratitude to the tour participants.
Significance of the Project
The Poland–Croatia 2026 tour brought Ukrainian folk dance to three European festival stages within a single journey, uniting Canadian ensembles with Ukrainian and Polish performers in Górowo Iławeckie and Bartoszyce, and days later carried that same tradition to the Adriatic coast. Through the hopak, regional choreography, and shared workshops, the tour once again affirmed that Ukrainian dance is a living cultural practice — sustained by communities abroad and continually renewed through collaboration.
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