Babadag – a Polish-Lithuanian avant-folk band, formed in 2010 on the initiative of Warsaw-based composer and vocalist Ola Bilinska. Their first, eponymous album was released in 2012, inspired by nature, Polish and American folk sounds from Africa and the Caribbean, and the prose of Andrzej Stasiuk. After moving to Suwałki, the leader invited three sisters – Lauksmina, Raminta and Dominika Kriščiūnaitė – vocalists from Vilnius, and three representatives of the Warsaw scene – Sebastian Witkowski, Igor Nikiforow and again Hubert Zemler. With this line-up, the band recorded their second album – Šulinys, musically based on traditional Lithuanian songs and sutartines canons, processed through lyrics – on Polish and Lithuanian mythology. On their third and latest album Bestiarijus, Babadag turned to melodies from the Suwałki and Vilnius regions.

Warsaw Village Band is a band from Warsaw, Poland which plays traditional Polish folk music tunes combined with modern elements. According to the band’s creative manifesto, it was formed as a response to mass culture and narrow-mindedness, “which in fact leads to destruction of human dignity.” Indeed, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the expansion of the European Union to most of the former Warsaw Pact countries, Poland’s economy has grown dramatically, while at the same time ushering in investment by a number of multinational corporations, leading to concerns of globalism and loss of Poland’s cultural identity.

Originally from Jaipur in Rajasthan, Amrat Hussain, Teepu Khan and Sanjay Khan form the Amrat Hussain Brother’s Trio, a Sufi music ensemble with a poetic tradition that goes back thousands of years. These three brothers were introduced to this art, as tradition dictates, from an early age by their grandfather and their father. Coming from a long line of musicians for more than seven generations, they are the heirs of an extraordinary destiny. Enriched by long stage experience, they perform in the biggest festivals around the world (Sziget Festival, Paléo Festival, Pori Jazz Festival…). On stage, the refined and richly ornamented vocals of Sanjay Khan skillfully blend with the haunting virtuosity of the tablas of Amrat Hussain and Teepu Khan. Together, they deliver music of bewitching and communicative energy that takes us between dreams and emotions, the time of a luminous journey.