SUB SORB festival (2025) residency in Hoyerswerda, DE

In May 2025 I was lucky to be part of ongoing Welsh and Sorbian friendship – a week of music residency in Hoyerswerda (South Germany).

_{^{SubSorb Festiwal, Kulturfabrik Hoyerswerda (courtesy of Iona Dutz)}}

The Sorbs are a vibrant West Slavic ethnic minority living in eastern Germany, primarily in the Lusatia region spanning Saxony and Brandenburg, where they’ve thrived for over a millennium despite historical pressures. They speak two closely related languages – Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian – which are akin to Polish and Czech, and are officially recognised as regional languages, fostering a unique bilingual culture with traditions like colourful Easter egg painting and lively folk music. Today, around 60,000 Sorbs actively preserve their heritage through festivals, literature, and education, challenging stereotypes and celebrating a modern, resilient identity.

SubSorb was one of those festivals that I’ve become a part of. For a duration of a week we sat in the recording studio everyday and recorded, produced and mixed 10+ tunes. The time was really productive and joyful. Multi-cultural projects are the way forward as they bring people from different countries and cultures and let them find similarities and common language – this time through music. We were translating from one language to another, we were writing new narratives, we used some folk inspirations and re-imagined singalongs. There will be a digital and physical release of some of the music we made together through Kollektiw Wakuum.