Heloldo Wilaria is a traditional folk group created in 1979 by a few senior folk dancers. The group today consists of 12 couples of dancers and 6 musicians as well as a group of teenagers and a group of children.

The name of Heloldo Wilaria was the name of the village of Holtzwihr in 758. Heloldo was a Welsh-Roman chief  who set up a big  farming  
called Wilaria,  Wilaria means village in Latin.

Heloldo Wilaria presents, through several traditional costumes, a large varied and diverting exhibition tracing out the Alsatian cultures.

Costumes of the area of ALSACE : Each member of the group wears the costume of this region of France called Alsace .  

Woman : A red woollen skirt -  white starched corsage and overall with laces – white underwears -  embroidered apron – a large black ribbon tied in a head dress.  

Man : A black woollen trousers – traditional white linen shirt  - a  red jacket with two lines of golden buttons – a black felt hat.  

The conscript’s costume is exclusively reserved for the young boys : white trousers – white shirt  –  an embroidered apron on which is mentioned the date of birth – a hat ornated with embroiedered ribbon and different feathers.  

Costume of our village : Adults also wear the local costume of the ‘’Ried’’. The Ried is  the name of the place where we leave. This costume was worn by the burgesses of Holtzwihr from 1830 to 1850. The groupe has acquired this costume in 1987 after detailed investigations with the approval of the ‘’Arts et Traditions Populaires d’Alsaces’’.

Woman :  A skirt, a embroidered silk corsage, an apron, a long shirt, a breastplate, a small shawl and a small head dress.

Man :  A long jacket, a trousers ‘’french type’’, a white linen shirt, a printed jacket,  a tie, a three-cornered hat. There are 47 buttons on this costume.  

The musicians: The traditional instrument the most used is the accordion.  

The dances : The program includes  a lot of differents dances :

 ‘’Masurkas – Salamandre – the dance of the sorceress – polkas – Scottischs – Rheinlandler – the dance of the conscripts, the peasantry dancees, etc…..  

The group Heloldo Wilaria has taken part in different traditional folk festivals, as in France as in other countries like Israël, Turkey, Canada, Japan, Poland, South Africa (twice) – the second time in 1987, the group won the first price in his category at the International Festival Eisteddfod in Roodepoort – South Africa.