site.btaFolklore Ensemble Bulgaria from London and Basingstoke to Perform in Munich

Folklore ensemble (FE) Bulgaria, which has branches in London and Basingstoke, England, will perform at the 11th Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance travelling folklore festival. The festival will take place in BMW Park in Munich, Germany, from May 15 to 17.

Choreographer Iva Kostova, who leads the ensemble, told BTA's BG World news desk: "We will present a dance, created specifically for this year’s edition of the festival. The music has been carefully selected and compiled from various ethnographic regions to follow and build the dance’s narrative. It features performances by the London Bulgarian Choir, Theodosii Spassov, Robert Kumbiliev, and others, and the Balkan Ethno Orchestra, voices and instruments that carry the soul of Bulgarian tradition and weave it into a single whole." The dance will tell the story of two people falling in love while dancing in the middle of a traditional Bulgarian village, and the challenges they face.

Kostova said that for the first time, the ensemble's two branches will perform together on the same stage. She added: "Over 40 people aged from 16 to 74 will stand together shoulder to shoulder. Different generations and even nationalities. We have English people in the ensemble who embrace Bulgarian folklore with open hearts and make it their own."

In 2013 Kostova established the ensemble in London. After working with non-professionals, she was amazed by the love they showed for their folklore and by their desire to preserve their roots, culture and spirit. The Basingstoke group was established six years later, after the manager started teaching in the Bulgarian school there.

FE Bulgaria also performed in the 10th edition of the folklore festival, which took place in Lyon, France, in June 2025.

The Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance travelling festival is organized by and for amateur folklore ensembles performing outside Bulgaria. The initiative was launched by the Ot Izvora group in Lyon, France, which hosted both the first edition in 2015 and the tenth edition in 2025. More than 100 dance ensembles and over 4,000 guests are expected at the 11th edition in Munich in May. The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is the official media partner of the event and will present all participants.