The festival was organised by the Croatian National Council in Serbia (HNV), the "Cro Fond" Foundation, and the local Croatian association "Vladimir Nazor," Croatian media in Vojvodina reported on Sunday.
Traditional attire, songs, dances, tamburitza music, and bagpipes are the common thread that unites all Bunjevci Croats, regardless of whether they live on the Vojvodina side of the border or in southern Hungary, it was said at the event which brought together members of nine cultural associations.
The festival was opened by the HNV president Jasna Vojnić, who said this is an important gathering of Bunjevci Croat organisations, providing insight into their numbers, the level of their activities, and what assistance they might need.
"All Croatian associations in Serbia, including those that cherish the Bunjevci culture, are in need. Almost all rely on volunteer work and individual enthusiasm and require support - financial, material, and staffing - from our umbrella institutions and from Croatia itself," she said.
She also responded to a statement issued prior to the festival by the Bunjevci National Council, the leading body of a segment of the Bunjevci community in Bačka that denies their Croatian affiliation, which expressed "serious concern and condemnation of these harmful activities".
The Council said that Croatian institutions and associations "consistently and extremely tendentiously manipulate the Bunjevci name, thereby denying the national distinctiveness of Bunjevci in Serbia."
Vojnić replied that such statements should be ignored, as it is clear "who the Bunjevci are and to which nation they belong," adding that such so-called disputes are a result of longstanding policies aimed at artificially dividing the Bačka Bunjevci into those who deny Croatian affiliation and those who affirm and preserve their Croatian identity.
The first "Bunjevci Without Borders" festival was held in 2016 in the Bačka village of Tavankut, and each year it takes place in a different location in Serbia or Hungary. The project is funded by Croatia's Central State Office for Croats Abroad and is supported by the Institute for the Culture of Vojvodina Croats and the publishing institution "Hrvatska riječ."