Folk Fest Rosa is turning 27 and marking it on November 9 at the National Opera and Ballet, with a programme they have called "One Night - Many Hits". Tickets cost 400 denars, doors at 20:00.

The festival is the work of Rosa Produkcija and it has run through the whole stretch in which the Macedonian pop scene shifted from state festivals, through private television, to today's situation where every phone is a stage. Twenty-seven years means editions of this festival were coming out back when music was still sold on discs - the 2008 edition was released as a double album through Senator Music from Bitola.

The format here is a revue: one evening running through the songs the festival has produced over the years. Unlike the new editions, where fresh compositions compete against each other, the anniversary nights trade on recognition - the audience knows the choruses in advance and turns up for exactly that reason.

That a festival like this has held on for 27 years with no state institution behind it says more about the staying power of folk music than any cultural strategy does. How many festivals founded in the same period still fill a hall? Tickets are 400 denars through the karti.com.mk sales network, and the concert is on November 9 at the National Opera and Ballet.