The opening concert of the 22nd Festival Bled was given by the St. Peter's Chamber Orchestra from Oxford and its conductor and founder, John Warner. In Bled the orchestra performed Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony as part of their Alpine Tour (Italy, Austria) of places where Mahler composed his masterpieces. After successful appearances in Venice and Vienna, Bled was the next stop in the European tour of Oakland University's elite touring choral ensemble led by Dr. Michael A. Mitchell. 

Music lovers who come to the concert by CELLO ATTACCA! are always in for a special treat. At this year’s festival, the ensemble performed with one of the best Slovenian accordionists, Marko Hatlak. The cello ensemble made up of the current and former students of Slovenian cellist Karmen Pečar Koritnik played an astonishing programme including a tango infused adaptation of Iztok Mlakar's famous song ''Štefana in Bertolin". 

One of the evenings of the festival is always reserved for dancers. This year Bled hosted the Belarusian State Honoured Choreographic Ensemble KHOROSKHI, who presented the formation and development of Belarusian national culture from pagan times to the 20th century through music and dance.

The Henley Symphony Orchestra is considered one of the leading amateur orchestras in Britain. Their appearance at the festival was part of the town twinning project between Henley-on-Thames and Bled. The students involved in Festival Bled 2017 masterclasses led by professors from Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Korea, Hungary, and Slovenia, gave three concerts this year (July 5, 9, 10 and 11). The festival attarcted more than 100 musicians who came to Bled to perfect their music knowledge. 

Hungarian violinist Sándor Jávorkai has won world acclaim as a performer of Niccolo Paganini's works. The audiences in Bled were blown away by his amazing rendition of Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Solo Violin. Jávorkai also played together with his master class students, who study the violin with Jernej Brence (MSc).  

Like in previous years Festival Bled 2017 was held under the auspices of the Bled Culture Institute and, as Jernej Brence says, with ongoing support and understanding of the local environment: "The atmosphere at the festival is great every year. All the participants like to return to Bled: our young talented musicians, who are drawn here by a rare opportunity to learn from the masters, as well as master class professors and other performers, who are impressed by the magical scenery of Bled. We are grateful that our sponsors, in particular the Bled Culture Institute, see Festival Bled as a valuable tradition that will be nurtured and upheld in the future.”