site.btaVeliko Tarnovo to Host First Festival of Overseas Bulgarian Folklore Ensembles, 23–26 July

The first Festival of Bulgarian Folklore Ensembles from Abroad will take place between July 23 and 26 in Veliko Tarnovo, the Association of Bulgarian Folklore Ensembles Abroad said on Monday.

The organizers noted that nine folklore ensembles and two individual participants from a total of eight countries will join the festival. “It is time, after our many performances abroad, to present ourselves in Bulgaria, on Bulgarian soil, on a Bulgarian stage and in front of a Bulgarian audience,” they said, adding that the main goal is to offer a Bulgarian platform to all ensembles that preserve and promote Bulgarian folklore worldwide.

The main concert will be held on July 25 on the stage of the Veliko Tarnovo Summer Theatre. Beforehand, all participants will dance a large horo in front of the Asenevtsi Monument and the Mother Bulgaria Monument.

Festival activities include a choreography workshop at the Kaloyan Fortress complex in Arbanassi, an excursion to the Etar Regional Ethnographic Open-Air Museum, and a visit to the Tsarevets Architectural and Museum Reserve, where participants will view a special broadcast of the Sound-and-Light Spectacle.

The festival is organized by the Association of Bulgarian Folklore Ensembles Abroad, in partnership with the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad and the International Council of Organizers of Traditional Arts and Folklore Festivals.