With support from the PK Hedborg Foundation, the Bals et Roses festival will welcome Swedish traditional musicians and dancers to Florenville, Belgium.
The Bals et Roses festival in Florenville, Belgium, is a small, familiar and very special kind of cultural event, focused on making people dance and learn traditional dancing from all over Europe. During three days in June, the festival also welcomes people with mental disabilities, living near the festival area, to come dancing and meeting other people.
The festival is in its eighth year, funded by the government, the regional authorities and local business life and donors. Every year, the festival committee invites musicians from other cultures, for instance France, United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In 2026, traditional dancers and musicians from Sweden will attend.
– In Sweden there is an extensive culture of traditional music, very different from what we can find here in Belgium. Among others, we are so glad to welcome a Swedish duo playing accordion and the Swedish traditional instrument nyckelharpa at the festival, says Denis Kohlman, volunteer at the Bals et Roses festival 2026.
In a workshop, led by a Belgian woman with a lot of interest and compassion for Swedish culture, the participants will learn traditional Swedish dances, accompanied by the Swedish musical group.
Last year approximately 400 people attended the festival.
– This is a perfect size for us, and we have no ambition to grow a lot. Our overall goal is to continue to share good culture and to cooperate with other cultures. To be able to invite foreign musicians and offer a professional performance, we depend on external financing, such as the grant from the Swedish PK Hedborg Foundation, says Denis Kohlman.
