TOMIĆ: TO UNDERSTAND WHO THEY ARE, IT IS CRUCIAL FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE DIASPORA TO LEARN ABOUT THEIR TRADITIONS AND ROOTS

BELGRADE, MAY 24 /SRNA/ - For young people born outside their country of origin, it is crucial to learn about their traditions and roots to understand who they are, Sara Tomić /20/, who came from her hometown of Offenbach in Germany with the ensemble of the Serbian Cultural Center to the 28th European Festival of Diaspora Folklore in Belgrade, told SRNA.

Sara has been dancing for 11 years, and her love for traditional costumes, song, and dance was passed on to her, her sister Marija, and her brother Filip by their mother, who used to perform folklore in Čačak. “For me, it is very important to be part of all this, because then we pass on everything we know to our children tomorrow, and we will never lose that connection,” she said. She emphasized that it is also very important for young people born outside Serbia to continuously improve their mother tongue so that they do not feel like strangers in their parents’ homeland, as well as to learn the national script - Cyrillic. “We speak Serbian at home, and I learned Cyrillic in Serbian school,” said Tomić, a future banking student. Her ensemble in Offenbach has 300 young members, while Group A, which came to showcase their skills alongside peers from other European countries, includes 50 performers. Tomić said she would recommend all young Serbs born in the Diaspora to join clubs in their local communities, as this helps them connect with fellow countrymen and further strengthen ties with their parents’ homeland. “I was also at the festival in Belgrade the year before last, and last year we had a great time in Banja Luka. Now I have a lot of friends there, but also family,” Tomić said. The 28th European Festival of Diaspora Folklore is being held this weekend at the MTS Hall in Belgrade, bringing together around 2,000 participants from 35 ensembles from nine countries. The event features young people from Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland, Slovenia, Romania, Croatia, Sweden, and Italy, who qualified for participation through selection festivals in their respective countries.