"This is Guca, this is Serbia": Trumpets thunder as festival returns after Covid year break

After a year-long break, the trumpets are thundering in Guca once again and nowhere do they sound like in Dragacevo. The 60th festival has gathered the best orchestras from all over Serbia, which will fight for the prestigious Golden Trumpet. This year, the Dragacevo Assembly flag was raised by the host, the president of Matica Srpska, Dragan Stanic.

"When you listen to our virtuosos, something unusual and festive happens. Music ceases to be just that, but rises to miraculous heights. What is authentic is that it can only appear in this place. That is why the trumpet should be a cultural intangible asset of the whole world. Guca is not only a national, but also a world phenomenon. The trumpet festival has long since ceased to be just a local festival, and in these six decades it has become truly and essentially important for our people," said Dragan Stanic.

The music editor of the 60th Trumpet Festival this year is the prominent trumpeter Dejan Petrovic.

"It is a great honor for me, but also an obligation towards my father and grandfather, from whom I learned everything. I got into this story with a pure heart in order to put the festival back on track. This is Guca, this is Serbia," said Petrovic.

How much the Serbs missed the event is obvious in the jam-packed Guca, despite all the strict epidemiological measures that have been put in place. The trumpeters are also happy, always stressing that this small town in the Dragacevo area is their second home.

"Only here we play with a full heart and all with our entire soul. The year without the festival was empty and painful. We have been eagerly waiting for this August, we have been preparing for the competition for months because appearing on the big stage is a great honor for all of us, but also a responsibility," said trumpeter Bojan Ristic.

The trumpet festival in Guca lasts until Sunday, August 13, when the main competition will take place, in which 16 orchestras will participate.

The President of the Dragacevo Assembly Committee, Milivoje Dolovic, welcomed all participants.

"We have a long tradition behind us. The Assembly is a part of all of us and is in our hearts. I can only say - welcome, welcome," said Dolovic.

(Telegraf.rs)