Folk Art Festivals as a Tool for Preserving National Traditions (Based on the International Festival “Mountaineers”)

Transformational processes in culture, including active globalization in the last few decades, have created conditions in which national regional cultures have been pushed to the periphery of attention. The situation is further exacerbated by the influence of the Islamic factor, which in regions with a predominantly Muslim population is actively encroaching on the socio-cultural sphere and replacing the national and ethnic components of regional culture. A certain segment of the population in the Republic of Dagestan expresses a wary attitude toward musical art, influenced by arguments about the prohibition of music in Islam. All of this has led to an urgent need to revive the foundations of traditional culture and return to the values that were formed within the framework of national cultures. Cultural practices aimed at preserving, communicating, and representing intangible heritage can serve as tools for promoting tradition. For the Republic of Dagestan, the international festival of traditional culture, “Mountaineers”, has become such a tool. It represents a sociocultural phenomenon, a special form of intercultural communication within which the goals of the state’s modern cultural policy are realized.