The village of Sentvid, not far from the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana in Yugoslavia, echoed with the sound of thousands of singing voices at the weekend (4 July).

SYNOPSIS: The music came from 3,300 singers who were members of the 100 amateur choirs in Sentvid for the village's seventh cultural week. They came from all over Slovenia and from Slovenian communities settle din Austria, Hungary and Italy. slovenia is one of he six republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It has its own language and is rich in traditional folklore and music. And it was many of the old folk sons that were sung by the choirs taking part in the festival. Even when Slovenians move away from their homeland to live in other countries they still retain their traditions - forming clubs, choirs and schools to make sure their children carry on the heritage. One such choir came from Austria to take part.

The Slovenian community from Hungary was also represented.

The Yugoslav government has always encouraged folk music and dancing and many government officials were in Sentvid for the festival. Summertime is popular for such festivals and this month a similar one is being held in the Croatian capital, Zagreb. throughout July and into August and international folk dance festival is held every year in the Croatian town of Dubrovnik on the Adriatic coast.

However, the singers didn't have Sentvid to themselves. Brass bands also converged on the village and blended with the choirs to put on a magnificent and spontaneous show.

But it was the grand finale provided by the massed choirs that really stole the day. Singing enthusiastically about true life stories that are the basis of all folklore, their voices must have brought tears to the eyes of at least some members of the vast audience.