Between 7 - 9 July 2002 Kontraburger appeared at the Tanz und FolkFest in Rudolstadt - when of the largest and most prestigious folk events in Europe. For this particular year Poland was a 'special country'. Among 70 artists from across the world 13 Polish bands took part. Along with Kontraburger, among others, were: The Cracow Klezmer Band, Trebunie Tutki z Kinior Futur Sound, Urszula Dudziak, Kapela Manugi, Kapela Bachórzanie, Kapela Stanisława Stępniaka, Zespół Śpiewaczy Pogranicze, Elżbieta Kasznia and Irena Cisek and our fellow Varsovians Swoja Droga.

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The common wisdom is that the former East Germany is not exactly well known for its tourist attractions. However Rudostadt, a little town, on the Saale River at the foot of the Thuringian forest, reminded us of old Prague. On the hill above is Heldelcksburg Castle, in the courtyard of which we played our first concert. The stone steps from the top of the hill lead to the town square, the centre of an intimate old town. Some abandoned old buildings give a theatrical atmosphere to the town. On the other side of the river, in which bivers swim playfully, the large Heinepark extends next to the campsite and sportsground. On the internet you can find out that on the present day site of the town there was once a Slavic settlement. Perhaps this explains the folk spirit which has haunted Rudolstadt for the last 10 years?
For the 3 days of the festival the whole town was overwhelmed by a throng of 60,000 folk fans. Concerts, presentations and workshops took place simultaneously on 20 big and small stages located in the castle, the main square, the backstreets of the old town (where we also played), in the town theatre, in the historic church and in the grounds of the park. The character and atmosphere of the spaces were chosen to suit the ambiance of the music presented in them. The restrained acoustic groups played in the church and the theatre, while the main stage featured among others, Brazilian dance, while the Heine park played host to contemporary sounds and trance music. Numerous stalls selling records, instruments, folky gadgets and food created a carnivalesque atmosphere.

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The biggest media star at the festival was the creator of the soundtrack for 'Amelie", Yann Tiersen. However, the greatest artistic event was an international jam session in the theatre, intended to be a presentation of antique stringed instruments from different cultures (magic instrument: Fiddle on the Knee). Several virtuosi took part, including: Peter Biffin from Australia, Ross Daly from Greece (lyre), Dhurba Ghosh from Belgium (saranga), Kayhan Kalhor from the USA (persian spike fiddle kemence), Georgi Petrow from Bulgaria (gadulka), Wu Wei - a Chinese musician from Hamburga (er-hu, organy sheng). The ensemble was completed by a brilliant multicultural rhythm section and the Finnish singer Outi Pulkkinen. The most amazing thing about this concert was that all the soloists played TOGETHER, creating an incredible orchestra, playing as if they'd played together for years. The hevenly art of improvisation, the virtuosity and lightness of the instrumental dialog, along with the fairy tale image of the artists all came together in a whole which took us, this time as part of the audience, to a new cosmic dimension.
Stepanida Boriova made a great impression on us - mystic, actress and singer from Jakucja who performed a duet with the Czech percussionist Pavel Fajt. The avant garde combination of sharp percussive rhythms with the mystical narrative songs enhanced by Stepanida's charisma had a trance-like power. We gave our demo to Stepanida and some time later received a mail from a radio station in Siberia, asking if they could broadcast it (perhaps thanks to Stepanida's magic?).
Due to lack of time we were unable to see lots of other artists such as : Susheela Raman, Dva, Brina & Strings, Blackfire, or the local celebrities Stoppoka.

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Of Kontraburger's appearances, we remember the last one in the old town with particular fondness. Just before it began, it started to rain heavily. We looked regretfully at the crowd, expecting them all to clear the exposed square in front of the stage. However, a few hundred stayed in their places, even though there were very few umbrellas. We felt as thoug hthese people had come especially to hear our music. We couldn't mess this one up. People smiled and danced in the rain. It was big cheers all round, and time for supper. On the way back we bought a German newspaper and found the following review (extracts):

(...) Folk has never been conservative. And perhaps its future now lies in Eastern Europe. An not only because 2 out of the 4 Jewish and Klezmer music categories at the German folk awards were won by the Cracow Klezmer Band,
a fantastic klezmer band from Poland. On the New Square you could also have listened to Kontraburger, one of the greatest discoveries of the festival. The band from Warsaw treat the musical tradition of their country with some irony. The singers Maga Górska and Małgorzata Madejska enter the stage with scarves on their heads singing harsh Slavic harmonies, in order to take off the scarves and cross over into a musical style between flower power, jazz and very melodic folk.
Tanz- und Folkfest sets the standard for the quality of its music and the enthusiasm of its fans. The enthusiasm is unshakable, the size of the 60,000 audience has not changed in years. It appears that folk has been an unending story between the extremes of North and South, and during the 2002 festival likewise between Northern and Southern Poland.

Frauke ADRIAN "From the extremes of Northern and Southern Poland"
Die Tageszeitung 8 July 2002