Balkan Chestnut Festival

10/03/2025

Saturday’s the big day and the weather looks amazing. Discounted tickets end tonight. We can’t wait to see you 🙂

09/24/2025

Getting ready for you! Tickets available now at www.balkanchestnutfestival.com

09/20/2025

We are two weeks away from the eighth annual Balkan chestnut festival. We can’t wait to see you again, 🙂 please get your discounted tickets now. (thank you to Lisa Shochat for these pictures from two years ago)

09/16/2025

The sign is up and we can't wait to see you October, 4th. Discounted tickets are available now!

11/09/2024

Hey everyone, here is a great opportunity to see Szikra again and support a great cause! Tonight at the Hungarian Consulate in DC, 5-7pm.

10/18/2024

Last call for discounted tickets! They're $45 at the door!

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/7th-annual-balkan-chestnut-festival-tickets-1020578145707?fbclid=IwY2xjawFi8KBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHW65WbokrjAcx5jJ0mOUWlPmGnlsxtMaVqY-dtphcABgDIfjvq0CsTggFg_aem_8koUQoYx_EAz_4aqJnqGSQ

10/16/2024

Everyone knows that the best dance moves are powered by good nosh. Thanks to our friends at MezeHub, we've got delicious and authentic Balkan grub to keep you moving and grooving all day long.

Learn more at

We offer free local delivery for the international food you crave in the Washington DC metro area. MezeHub online grocery store has all fine European Balkan foods from Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia & more.| Shop Now

10/11/2024

We're just one week away from the 7th Annual Balkan Chestnut Festival at Wyoming Farm in Clinton, MD! And you know whose set we're eager to hear? Szikra's!

Szikra plays traditional Hungarian dance music of the Csángó people from Moldva and Gyimes in Romania. The energetic, ancient pulse of this music ignites the dancers' fervor, and inspired the band name Szikra, which means “spark” in Hungarian. Csángó dances are lively and easy to follow, and include both line and couple dances, many with syncopated rhythms.

Since its formation in 2014, Szikra performs regularly at cultural events and Hungarian dance house parties (táncház-es) in Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., Michigan, New Jersey, and New York.

10/01/2024

Let's hear it for our next band: Niva!

Niva is an all-woman band that plays and sings Macedonian roots music - alternately lyrical, mournful, ecstatic and spooky music that used to be the soundtrack of everyday life back in the day.

Songs about unhappy betrothals, love gone wrong, bandits hiding in the hills, and cruel mothers-in-law, dances that wrap you in a twisting circle - Niva can make you hoot and holler one minute and cry your eyes out the next, even if you can't speak Macedonian. Niva is: Bridget Robbins - kaval; Emily Geller - tapan and vocals; Helen Marx - tapan and darabuka; Kristina Vaskys - tambura and vocals.

09/24/2024

We're delighted to share the second band in our line up: Balkan Soul Band!

Balkan Soul Band has been performing since 2018 for the Bulgarian Cultural Center of Washington, DC, the Bulgarian School of Baltimore, and the Bulgarian Cultural Center of NJ, PA, and DE. The band performs mostly traditional Bulgarian songs and dance tunes. In the past year, the band began expanding its repertoire with Romanian, Serbian, Albanian, and Macedonian music.

Yana Kirilova (vocals) is 11 yo. Stanley Kirilov (doumbek, tupan, and vocals) is 13 yo. Stanley studies doumbek with Polly Tapia Ferber. He also studies Tupan with Genadii Rashkov. For the past few years Yana and Stanley have been studying Bulgarian singing with the Thracian singer Tsonka Dimitrova. Kalin Kirilov (digital accordion) is a Prof. of Music at Towson University. Kalin teaches music theory, ear training, ethnomusicology, and creative music technology.

To learn more: https://www.facebook.com/musicfromthebalkans

09/19/2024

This years flier! Please share this with your friends and communities to help us spread the word. All are welcome!