site.btaBulgarians Abroad Organize 10th Bulgarian Folklore Festival, Plan to Publish Poetry Collection

The tenth edition of the travelling Une Ronde Autour du Monde festival [its Bulgarian title translates to "On the Town Square of the Other Bulgaria"] will be held on June 6, 7 and 8 in Lyon, France. This year the large-scale event for the Bulgarian community will be hosted by the Palais des Sports, the city's sports centre. The festival is an event organized by and for amateur folklore ensembles outside Bulgarian borders.

The first edition in 2015 was initiated by Bulgarian Lyon-based folklore group Ot Izvora [From the Source], which also organized the current one. The idea behind the project was for it to be held every year in a different place around the continent. Over the years, Une Ronde Autour du Monde has been hosted by Montpellier, France (2016); Gandia - Valencia, Spain (2017); Milan, Italy (2018); Benidorm, Spain (2019); Verona, Italy (2020); Copenhagen, Denmark (2022); Prague, Czechia (2023) and Palma de Mallorca, Spain (2024).

For the 10th edition, the organizers have launched a project for a poetry collection dedicated to the festival, Yoana Ivanova, part of the festival team and a dancer in Ot Izvora told BTA.

"We are proud to announce the launch of a new project for a poetry collection dedicated to our beloved festival," Ivanova said. "Our goal is to collect poems inspired by our festival, which unites the traditions, songs and dances of Bulgaria and has known no borders for 10 years, bringing us together at various editions around the world," Ivanova added. The working title of the poetry collection is "We gathered for you, we gathered...," Ivanova announced.

Ivanova explained that the poetic works must be written specifically for the festival. “Write a poem that is inspired by Bulgarian folklore, the festival or your personal memories of events related to Bulgarian traditions that the festival reminds you of,” Ivanova added.

The deadline for submitting the poems is May 20, 2025. The organizers plan to present the collection of poems during the festival in Lyon and distributing it among the Bulgarian community around the world.

“We hope to create a collection of poems that bears the spirit of Bulgarian culture that will be a bridge between 'On the Town Square of the Other Bulgaria' and the whole world,” Ivanova said.