The 44th CIOFF® annual World Congress and 6th Youth Forum will be held in Bautzen, Germany,

October 16 – 26, 2014. Organizers expect about 200 people representing 100 member countries to attend, with delegates traveling from far away to this historic city, located in Eastern Germany near Dresden. The 44th CIOFF® World Congress is hosted by CIOFF® Germany, led by President Mr. Norbert Mueller, in collaboration with the city of Bautzen, and CIOFF® members: Domowina, Sorbisches National Ensemble and Sorbische Volkstanzgruppe Schmerlitz.

Since 2012, CIOFF® has been working in Official Partnership with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and is accredited to provide advisory service to the Committee of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. UNESCO Director General Ms. Irina Bokova emphasized during the 2012 CIOFF® World Congress in Paris that “UNESCO and CIOFF® share the same goal: to promote the diversity of cultural expressions and raise the potential for human development.”

This CIOFF® World Congress continues the work to safeguard intangible cultural heritage all over the world. These once yearly assemblies are also celebrations of diversity and tolerance. A very important component of the World Congress is the 6th CIOFF® Youth Forum which will take place simultaneously at the Youth Hostel Gerberbastei, also in Bautzen. More than 30 youth members are expected to participate from as many countries.

The Congress, the CIOFF® Cultural Conference and the concluding evening event will take place in the German-Sorbian Volkstheater. Other meetings and events such as Council Meeting, the meetings of the CIOFF® Sectors, Commissions and Committees will take place at Serbski Dom.

Founded in 1970, CIOFF® is now represented in over 100 different countries in which there are more than thirty thousand folklore dance and music groups and folk arts organizations. Today CIOFF ® globally coordinates over 300 annual international folklore and folk arts festivals, uniting thousands of volunteers around the world with its mission to encourage cultural exchange in order to promote a growing spirit of friendship and peace.

For more information about The 44th CIOFF® annual World Congress and 6th Youth Forum, please visit http://2014.cioff.de/index.php/en/. To learn more about the work of CIOFF ® please visit www.cioff.org or email: info@cioff.org.