Thanks to the 1st International Samba Festival: ‘Raban Festival’, organized by the Raban Foundation. On the last weekend of April 2013, Oborniki Śląskie became the Polish Capital of Samba.
The organizers invited over one hundred Samba performers from Poland, Germany and the UK.
The festival was a great opportunity for all Samba enthusiasts to improve their skills during the very intense percussion workshops. The workshops took place in Obornicki Ośrodek Kultury over two days. The first workshop was held by Pat Power from Brighton, one of the biggest innovators of the British samba scene, well known for his bold mixing of traditional and modern beats.
The second part of workshops was run by musicians from a Berlin-based samba group ‘Sapucaiu no Samba’. It’s worth mentioning that Bruno, who was co-leading the workshop, only moved to Berlin recently and previously lived in Rio de Janeiro where he led the tamborim section in many prestigious Samba Schools. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the workshop was filled with original beats straight from Rio.
While Obornicki Ośrodek Kultury was vibrating to the sounds of percussion instruments, Anna Tarka led a dance workshop in OSIR. Participants learned basic samba moves and typical carnival choreography.
The festival did not restrict itself to the borders of Oborniki Śląskie, on Friday evening the Brighton group ‘Barulho’ performed at the Club Puzzle in Wrocław. They were supported by Dj Eggs Leggs, who also comes from Brighton. At the end of the concert a copy of Anna’s Koźbiel’s film ‘Balanço’ was shown.
Polish bands got the chance to perform on Saturday evening in the first samba competition ever held in Poland. Obornicki Ośrodek Kultury was a stage for four competing bands;
Bloco Central
Sambateria (Kraków), Szkoła Samby (Oborniki Śląskie/Wrocław), Ritmo Bloco (Warszawa) and Bloco Central (Warszawa). All the groups performed at a very high standard however Bloco Central was the audience’s and jury’s favourite securing the first place. As deserved winners they won a voucher which they’ll be able to redeem in music equipment. The prize was generously sponsored by Kalango.
parade fot. Sebastian Musielak
The highlight of the festival was a parade of over one hundred artists and workshop participants through the streets of Oborniki Slaskie. For an hour and a half the town was transformed into the vibrant city of Rio and the sounds of percussion invited locals to join into the celebrations.
Before leaving home all of the participants pointed out how much they had enjoyed the event and that they were already looking forward to returning to Oborniki Slaskie very soon.
www.raban-festival.eu
www.szkolasamby.org
www.fundacjaraban.org