The 32nd EBU Folk Festival is set to open tomorrow, bringing 21 acts from 19 EBU Member organizations* in 18 countries to the Croatian town of Opatija for three days of live concerts. The festival is expected to be heard by tens of millions of listeners.

Every performance will be recorded by host radio broadcaster HRT and distributed by the EBU via satellite to all active and associate members around the world, either live or through exchange systems, for use in their programmes.

EBU Radio Folk Music Project Manager Krystyna Kabat said the festival was proof of the enduring popularity of folk music.

She said: "Folk music is wrongly seen as a niche genre, when in reality it draws influences from anything from heavy metal to rap and twists it into something new. This is a creative, vibrant scene, and the presence of a South Korean group this year is proof of its global reach."

The festival programme starts at 8 pm on Friday, 10th June 2011, with a formal opening concert which will be broadcast live on radio.

Click here for more about the 32nd EBU Folk Festival and biogs of the performers.

* Austria, ORF; Belarus, BTRC; Belgium, VRT; Bulgaria, BNR; Croatia, HRT; Czech Republic, CR; Finland, YLE; Germany ARD/WDR; South Korea, KBS; Norway, NRK; Poland, PR; Romania, ROR; Russia, RDO/Radio Orpheus; Russia, RTR; Spain, RNE; Slovenia, RTVS; Sweden, STR/SR; Switzerland, SSR/SRG/RR; Ukraine, NRCU