The organisers have promised to showcase Slavic music in all of its diversity, highlighting the role it has played in creating European culture.

While officially starting tomorrow, there will be a pre-festival event today as the Wild Strings Trio, a collaboration between Slovenian, Slovak and French musicians, give a concert in Prešeren Square.

Between Thursday and Saturday, dozens of concerts will be held at 14 venues in Ljubljana's historical centre, called the Old Town. Concerts will dominate the programme, but there will also be many accompanying activities. As customary, all events will be admission free.

The festival will bring over 300 artists from 15 countries to the capital, according to the organiser, NGO Imago Sloveniae - Podobe Slovenije.

The programme highlights include the Big Band RTV Slovenija on Thursday, accordionist Marko Hatlak on Friday and the Russian Concert Orchestra from St. Petersburg on Saturday, followed by a concert of arias performed by the soloists of the Ljubljana Opera.

The festival director, Janoš Kern, also recommends performances by musicians of the European Music Archaeology Project, who will play on the oldest musical instruments found on the European soil.

The main fringe event will be a musicology academic conference organised by the Ethnomusicology Chair at the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts, and the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Held at the National Museum, the conference featuring over 40 experts from around the world will be dedicated to music archaeology and the latest findings on Stone Age music. The event coincides with the travelling exhibition Archeomusic.

Nights in Old Ljubljana Town is the biggest street festival in the capital, which traditionally takes place on the last week of August and attracts around 60,000 visitors from Slovenia and abroad.