This year’s “European Youth Week” will take place from July 22 – 30, 2023!!

What’s the “European Youth Week”?

The European Youth Week is a unique youth and folklore festival. Every summer, around 200 young people from at least four different European countries meet at Burg Ludwigstein to live together for one week and to work, sing and dance with each other. During their performances, the young people show wonderful folklore from their home countries. At workshops and various activities, they get closer. During the week, a big community is born – a European family.
It is the aim of the festival, founded by Hella Heynmöller in 1953, to bring together young people from Europe and the world so that they can get to know and understand each other and their culture. This is intended to contribute to the understanding of peoples and to peace in the world. The youth exchange is organized by the non-profit “Working Group European Youth Weeks Burg Ludwigstein e.V.”

Advices for dance groups and folkbands which would like to apply for the participation in the Euro Week:

Generally four European folklore groups are invited to participate in the European Youth Week. Interested folkdance groups and folk bands may apply here.

Wanted are mainly young folkdance ensembles that like meeting people from foreign countries and cultures. The core of the Euro Week is not so much the performance on stage but the get-together and making new friends during the meeting. We expect from the participants an attractive programme on stage that enthuses the audience. Even more important is, however, the openness of the people and their engagement in the other activities during the European Youth Week – the workshops, the singing und dancing together etc.

Our main focus is on European folkdance ensembles but we are also open for applications from folk bands, choirs or the like and for groups outside Europe.

The Conditions for Participation (.pdf) in the European Youth Week as well as an Application Form (.pdf) can be downloaded here.

The invitation of groups is coordinated by Heike Diehl (E-mail).

Dates of the next Euroweeks:

27.07. – 04.08.2024
02.- 10.08.2025
01. – 09.08.2026