Buckland Public Hall will transform into a high-energy Balkan dance party this weekend when the world-renowned brass band Zlatne Uste brings its boisterous Eastern European sounds to western Massachusetts.
The New York City-based group, whose name translates to “Golden Lips,” has performed globally at prestigious venues and events, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and the Guča Brass Festival in Serbia. The lively performance will take place on Saturday, July 25, from 7 to 10 p.m.
“They play traditional music from Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria,” said Sara Davis, the marketing and programs agent at Fabric of Life. “[Zlatne Uste is] the organizer of a huge music event in New York called ‘Golden Festival,’ and every summer they put that on … they have dancing, they have workshops and it’s extremely well attended … they’re a pretty high-profile band as far as Eastern European music goes, and we’re super excited to get them out to western Mass.”
The concert is being put on by Fabric of Life, a Shelburne-based educational nonprofit operating since 2014. This is just one of the many programs offered by the organization, which focuses on preserving traditional skills like music, agriculture, construction, craft and hand skills.
“We do a wide variety of different activities,” Davis said. “The goal is to sort of build community around these skills that are at risk of being lost, or being not as mainstream as they once were.”
This concert — self-styled as a “dance party” on both Fabric of Life and the band’s Facebook page — just scratches the surface of the organization’s involvement in the music scene. Every year, the nonprofit hosts a Barn Fest at its property at 80 Basset Road in Shelburne, drawing around 400 to 500 attendees.
“We have all sorts of demonstrations and activities for children and people of all ages that goes through the whole afternoon,” Davis said. “We also have a community supper that we’re working with Stone Soup to cater, and then there’s music in the evening that goes late into the evening with dancing. … That’s just been a wonderful community activity we do; it’s probably our biggest event of the year.”
According to Davis, dancing will be a major part of the festivities this weekend. Unlike a conventional concert where audience members are expected to stay in their seats, dancing is not only allowed but encouraged.
“It will be very boisterous. It’ll be exciting. There will be a lot of fairly loud music [as] it is a brass band,” Davis said. “There will be vocalists as well … it’s very energetic, and I think that people of all ages can enjoy it and have a great time … It will be an experience that people will carry with them.”
To purchase tickets for the concert and dance party at Buckland Public Hall, visit www.fabric-of-life.org/product/july-25-2026-zlatne-uste-dance-party. Admission is offered on a sliding scale, ranging from $25 to $45, and admission can be paid at the door until capacity is reached.
“I’m excited to have this band able to be in western Mass., and give the opportunity to hear them to folks from here who might not go to New York City to hear them play,” Davis said. “The more that we can bring people together with music and craft, I think the more connected we are to each other and it really just builds the community.”
