Festival “Biserna grana”, as unique in Serbia and region, present beauty of material cultural heritage since year 2008. Festival with main aim to present and protect national costumes and more than 500 participants per year, through the years became important event for ethnologist, heritage experts and cultural society; also for Novi Sad city (Futog settlement), Serbia and region. Every year, five days in October, people interested in material cultural heritage have opportunity to see, feel and learn about the beauty of the heritage. Festival team, considering good practice over the year, expands their event by workshops, exhibitions in Serbia and region. Europe nations, with all the differences, when we talk about national costume have a lot almost identical units so Festival try to present small things that can became a large one for European nations connecting and making better relations and understanding. 

The team of the Pearl Branch Festival, employed at the Mladost Futog Cultural Information Center, as a group of enthusiasts, has been thinking for years about how to preserve folk costumes from the territory of the Republic of Serbia and the region and present them to the public. Enthusiasm, great desire and commitment in 2008 get final event and the first Festival was held. The Festival team is aimed at raising awareness of the importance of material cultural heritage - folk costumes, jewelry and headbands, and therefore the activities are directed towards the professional public and the general public. The final program of the Pearl Branch project is the Festival, which takes place during the first week of October, when the participants of the Festival show all the beauty, diversity and variety of their cultural heritage - both costumes and dance and songs. Another feature of the Festival is the preservation of musical heritage, stage heritage, because each presentation of the participants includes a music and stage presentation.

The Festival program includes:

- exhibitions of the Pearl Branch Festival - as an accompanying program, in order to promote the festival and audience development,

- concert of guest folklore ensembles with the host on Freedom Square in Novi Sad - joint concert performed by ensembles: hosts ensemble "Mladost" Futog, another ensemble from Serbia and guests from the region (Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Hungary…). Renowned performers of traditional music also take part in the concert.

- Parade of festival participants - parade of Festival participants through the central city streets is a unique opportunity for many audiences to see the richness, diversity (but also similarity) of folklore heritage and feel the spirit of many nations and national communities in Europe. After the reception of participants in the City Hall, a parade will be held on Zmaj Jovina and Dunavska Street. Participants of the Festival (from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, representatives of national minorities from the region ...), dressed in original examples of their national costumes represent all the diversity of European cultural heritage. During the parade, short performances of participants will be organized at several points, followed by photography of participants in costumes (which is an opportunity for citizens to take photos with festival participants and learn about costumes in direct communication with them).

- Costume show and concert program - show and presentation of folk costumes are the most important part of the Festival "Pearl Branch". Participants of the Festival (members of cultural and artistic societies, citizens' associations, collectors, owners of workshops for making folk costumes) from the country and region show the costumes of their region or their national community with detailed explanations of experts - the audience has the opportunity to learn about each part of the costume (from which year, how she dresses, what she represents in the social, economic, life sense of the period in which she was originally worn). Each presentation of the participants includes a music and stage presentation. It is important to point out that the show also features original pieces (more than a hundred years old) and newly made costumes. Over the years, the circle of associates - experts has expanded and every year, we can proudly say, we have new associates with new knowledge that broadens the horizons and allows all participants to gain new knowledge about costumes, to better understand and enjoy the heritage. The expert jury, guided by the overall impression of the costume presentation, and taking into account the preservation of original parts, the quality of costume replicas and the way of presentation, after the show, awards prizes for the best costume presentation. Also, after the fashion show, the jury explains the evaluations to the representatives of the Festival participants.

Due to the pandemic situation in 2020, the Festival was held in digital form, ie the Festival team realized a short film lasting 30 minutes, which presented 10 sets of folk costumes. We can proudly say that we expected positive comments from our audience, but at the same time we were surprised by the echo and feedback we received after the film was broadcast on social networks

The diversity of European nations is expressed through the diversity of folk costumes, jewelry and headbands. But at the same time, if the elements of folk costumes, jewelry and headgear are studied, one comes to the conclusion that the beauty of diversity is also in great similarity. During the 13 years of the festival, we have witnessed countless situations in which experts have had difficulty determining exactly which nation or territory a certain national costume belongs to. In this sense, the Pearl Branch Festival not only connects the participants of the festival, but also connects the peoples of Europe. The parade of the participants of the Festival through the central city streets is a unique opportunity for a large audience to feel the spirit of European nations in a short period of time. The comments of the audience are an important indicator that the goal of the Festival is being achieved from year to year and that the process of raising awareness of the importance of cultural heritage and its preservation is successful. Friendships of participants from different European countries created at the Festival and their long duration, exchange of knowledge, experiences, intercultural projects created from the Festival itself are what make the festival "Pearl Branch" an important element in preserving European identity and creating a cohesive social environment. We have participants of all generations at the Festival and it is wonderful to see the enthusiasm of the audience when they hear some forgotten folk songs or recognize folk songs of other nations outside Serbia, when they comment on folk costumes and assess what elements of folk costumes could be used in modern life style, when the youngest audience expresses a desire to touch the folk costume they encounter for the first time. Even through such small events, the importance of preserving cultural heritage, the importance of cultural diversity in Europe and the importance of creating a unique identity and better social ties and understanding are recognized.