A Manchester festival invites you to dance your way across Europe during a spirited eight hour workshop marathon.
Folk dance experts from Bulgaria to Ukraine will congregate in Cathedral Gardens on Sunday 21 June for the annual music, dance and food festival Góbéfest .
From 11am all the way through to 7.30pm, they will be offering free back to back dance workshops, exploring the varying rhythms and steps of Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and also of the Roma people.
Sharing the secrets of dances from the czardas to the mazurka, the sessions will take place in the festival activity tent and are open to all ages and levels of experience.
For anyone still on their feet by 8pm, a main stage finale from Bhangracise, which fuses traditional Punjabi folk dance with high energy cardio fitness, will round off the day on a high.
Dance teachers have travelled from all over the UK to perform and run workshops at the festival, though some are from closer to home. These include Polonez from Moss Side, Podilya from Cheetham Hill and Kaskosan from Bolton.
Ottilia Ördög, founder and festival director, said: “Europe has so many incredible folk dance traditions that bring together colourful costumes, skilful musicians and passionate dancers.
“Eight hours and seven cultures is a folk dance marathon – we estimate if you do every workshop, you’ll dance between 30,000-40,000 steps! So it’s a great work out as well as a lot of fun.”
Góbéfest (go-bee-fest), Manchester’s original urban folk music and dance festival, celebrates a decade of love, lutes and lángos this June.
The weekend promises an expertly curated outdoor mix of bands and solo artists, folk dance groups, choirs and more. Headliners include legendary Hungarian artist Ildikó Keresztes and the Bekecs Dance Theatre from Transylvania, showcasing traditional Szekler folk culture.
Manchester’s central Cathedral Gardens will be transformed into a joyous pan-European melting pot from lunchtime on Friday 19 June until late on Sunday 21 June 2026.
Established in 2017, Góbéfest has its roots firmly in Transylvania, but over the years has expanded its reach to cherry pick some of the finest artists from across Europe.
Independent food and drink traders will be serving up favourites from around the Carpathian Basin and beyond.
Expect giant simmering pans of slow stewed beef from Hungarian Goulash Hut, Polish pierogi (dumplings), the crème fraîche and cheese-topped fried flatbreads known as lángos and Transylvanian chimney cakes, spit-roasted to order over a flaming barbecue from Pretzi and Szász Bakery
