I'm at Guca brass band festival in Serbia. My first return to Guca since I was here researching Princes Amongst Men in 2003. It's the 50th anniversary so pretty epic - some 600000 people expected over the week. All free tho there is a charge of ten euros per car to enter. I didnt come back just for Guca - it was more hearing that the Bulgarian folk festival that is held every 5 years was on this August that got me into the Balkans. I'd never attended this festival and always wanted to - if i missed this one next is 2015. Then it turned out Guca was kicking off just over a week later. So I travelled around Bulgaria - the festival was great, held in Koprishtitsa, a historic town that is very beautiful - Sofia, the capital, is even more wrecked than when i was here in 2003! - and lots of Bulgarian village choirs and musicians playing gaida - the local bagpipes - and flutes and such. in the evening lots of street music. She'Koyayh, the London Balkan band, turned up and jammed with the locals and went down well. Took a long slow train ride to the Black Sea. A heatwave is riding the southern Balkans and so this was a very sticky journey. Speaking Spanish was fortunate as i managed to have a good conversation with a heavily tattooed Gypsy guy who had lived in Spain. He told me about how racist Bulgarians were - no surprise - and had 421 tattooed on his leg, the number of days he had spent in jail after punching a cop who had assaulted his wife merely for being Rom. Boy, did his face drop when I recounted all the musicians i knew! He then started playing me local music on his phone. Sounded very Balkan.
The Black Sea is extremely crowded - it seems most of Bulgaria head there in August. Nice swimming and very reasonable prices - bulgaria is cheap compared to West Europe - but they are ruining the coast with apartment complexes and bars on the beach and the beaches just being packed with people. Being a Kiwi i like my beaches wide open and unspoiled. Met Papasov and Kottarashcky - both holidaying at Black sea!
Back to Sofia and then a train from hell thru the night to Belgrade. I was informed that the reason the rail network is in such bad state is that various politicians own the bus lines so dont want to invest in what is competition. Arriving around 5.30am in Belgrade and the temperature was already 22 and rising. Crazy city Belgrade, very lively and quite beautiful in spots. The Danube meets the Sava river here and this gives the city a lovely watery soul. Trouble finding accommodation - lots of awful youth hostels set up to prey on the backpacking kids that are now arriving for Exit and guca. 20 years ago I was one of them. Now i need more than a bunk bed alongside a dozen other smelly strangers.
Insane heat. Felt like i had a fever i sweated so much. Saw various friends and then went with dragan from Kal to his hometown close to the Bosnian border. Went to the family mahala which was full of big houses built by locals who had worked in Germany, austria, and a wedding was underway. Next day to the northern city of Novi Sad - a gorgeous city on the Danube. Caught up with some old friends here and swam in the river which has a very fast current. Then a drive through the mountains and glorious countryside that has changed little over the last century. Finally Guca. Pandemonium as expected. Much more developed than 7 years ago. Back then 99 percent were Serbs. Today its about 60 percent with lots of western travellers arriving for the free festival.
Boban and Marko played. Very slick. Then Shantel who was joined by Marko and other members of the orchestra. A stadium show but, for me, just awful. The Serbs shook their heads in despair at their music being so trivalised. The Western visitors enjoyed him - I chatted to a french guy who had come just to see Shantel but never heard of Boban!
Today the temp-s continue to rise. Serbia is not as cheap as Bulgaria but still good value and the people very friendly and helpful. The women are amongst the world's most beautiful. This is my last day then Im back to the UK to perform at the Edinburgh Book Festival on Friday night - Scots please come along!