This association, founded in 1962 under the name Association of Musicians of Bosnia and Herzegovina, organized a gathering of folk music singers from the former Yugoslavia as early as 1963 to aid the victims of the earthquake that struck Skopje. That gathering gave rise to the Ilidža Folk Music Festival, the largest event of its kind in our region. The humanitarian activities of this umbrella association of musicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina have continued for decades thereafter.
The program "Legends of Ilidža" is a concert-style promotion of the Monograph of the first sixty years of the Ilidža Festival (1963–2023), authored by Damir Galijašević and Enver Šadinlija, published in December 2025 by the SEVDAH Foundation and the Association of Stage Performers of KS.
This concert blends traditional and modern approaches to proven folk music hits from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region, which premiered over the past six decades on the stage of the Ilidža Festival.
True legends of our folk music will perform, including winners and multiple participants of the Ilidža festivals: Nedeljko Bilkić, Slobodan Lalić, Ljubica Berak, Rizo Hamidović, Milena Plavšić, Nada Obrić, Mate Bulić, Nihad Alibegović, Ferid Avdić, Omer Livnjak, Ibro Selmanović, Hasiba Agić, Meho Hrštić, Snježana Komar, Branka Sovrlić, Vesna Hadžić, last year’s Ilidža winner Kemal Hasić, Esed Kovačević, Zijad Sipović, Bahrija Hadžialić, Aldijana Dizdarević…
Young interpreters will evoke the Ilidža successes of the giants of sevdah and folk songs rooted in sevdah: Alma Subašić, Zanin Berbić, Nejra Brka, Memnun Muzaferija, Melika Karić, Safet Bučo, and Nejla Keškić Muzaferija. The performers will be accompanied by the Damir Galijašević Orchestra, with the program moderated by experienced music experts Enver Šadinlija and Enisa Hajdarević-Šojko.
Tickets priced at 20 KM are available at kupikartu.ba, the BKC box office, and kupikartu.ba sales points. Proceeds from ticket sales are intended for the treatment of ill children through the Pomozi.ba platform.
"A meeting with the legends of this festival, multiple winners, stars of folk music from our region, and giants whose songs we grew up with; a remembrance of the doyens, alongside interpretations by young singers, and a top-tier musical experience rarely witnessed in these parts! Let us collaborate in doing good!" message from the Association of Stage Performers of KS.