From July 12th to 14th music fans from across Russia and around the world converged in the tiny village of Shushenskoye in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia for the 10th anniversary of the International Festival of Music and Craft.

The Festival brings together about 100 ethnic music ensembles and performers from Russia, former Soviet republics and a diverse array of countries like India, Denmark and Thailand. The Amata Foundation and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) invited a Thai band called Tammai (Tam means beat and Mai means wood) to participate. For many of the bands the Festival is a major highlight in their professional growth and a chance to be a part of a colorful flow of diverse national cultural traditions. The Festival’s mandate is to profile global musicians and ‘world music’ producers from different countries under the backdrop of a beautiful Siberian landscape. This is an ideal opportunity to share music, art, ideas and cultural traditions all while camping under the stars or exploring the quaint village of Shushenskoye.

The Festival is jointly organized by Ministry of Culture Russian Federation and Ministry of Culture Krasnoyarsk region. The location is a fitting venue as there are 162 ethnic group still active and living in Krasnoyarsk and it is a region known for its music and arts. The Festival encourages cross-cultural learnings and is designed to let musicians interact, jam and perform with one another. And it is popular. This year the event drew over 35,000 music fans.

The crowd loved the Thai performers as they played a concert of music from the Mekong River area on the main stage. One of the most interesting moments was when the Thais performed one of the most famous Russian songs “Galinga” with traditional Thai instruments. That summed up the spirit of the event. All involved hope to repeat this success again next year and continue sharing their musical influences and inspirations.