site.btaUPDATED 11th Bulgarian Folk Festival "Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance" Opens in Munich
The 11th travelling Bulgarian folklore festival Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance opened in Munich on Friday. The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is the official media partner of the event, which is taking place at BMW Park in the German city on May 15-17.
A record large number of participants will take the stage at the gathering, with 120 groups and individual performers included in the programme. Participants have arrived from 21 countries: Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Poland, Malta, the US, South Africa, Netherlands, Cyprus, Greece, the UK, Ireland, Czechia, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Bulgaria.
Opening the festival, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said that the national news agency's coverage of events involving Bulgarians abroad is growing ever larger, with more than 9,000 news reports released in 2025 and 111 folk ensembles from the gathering in Munich featured so far. Valchev said that this year, the festival Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance is taking place in the country that is home to around one fifth of all Bulgarians living abroad, assuming their total number exceeds 2 million. According to him, Bulgarians in Germany set an example of actively preserving Bulgarian identity through their numerous folk dance and choir ensembles, as well as associations, schools and churches. "Bulgarians in Bulgaria need Bulgarians abroad and their children. We need your knowledge and experience," the BTA chief said, reiterating his message from last year's festival in Lyon, France.
The President of Bulgaria, Iliana Iotova, said in a message that Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance has long "transcended the scope of a regular cultural initiative" and has established itself as "a significant international forum bringing together Bulgarian artists and folklore ensembles from around the world". With so many groups from so many countries, the festival is a "true celebration of Bulgarian identity", Iotova said. Several symbolic gifts from the President were delivered on the opening day.
The Deputy Mayor of Munich, Verena Dietl, praised the Bulgarian community as an important part of the city's cultural and social life, describing diversity as one of the greatest strengths of the capital of the German state of Bavaria. "More than 14,000 Munich residents with Bulgarian roots are a natural part of the life of our city," Dietl said. "They contribute every day through associations, schools, companies, culture and our neighborhoods." She described the festival as "Europe at its most beautiful - diverse, open and connected".
Bulgaria's Consul General in Munich Stefan Ionkov stated: "Bulgaria lives wherever there are people who preserve its spirit, its music and its dances." He also said: "Munich today is hosting one of the most beautiful images of Bulgaria. The image of the living, colourful, strong and united Bulgarian community."
The Executive Director of the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, Raina Mandzhukova, said that for the eleventh time, a European city has effectively become Bulgarian in spirit. She emphasized the importance of this gathering for preserving Bulgarian identity abroad.
Anita Ekenova from Lyon, France, who initiated the festival and organized its first and tenth editions, said: "To participate in a project developed around the concept of the village square is to share in something that you carry in your heart." According to her, the tradition of the village square inspires strength. "Once you step onto that square, you always return, stronger, with more friends and with even more creative energy."
Radoslava Nedyalkova, Chair of the Association of Bulgarian Folklore Ensembles Abroad, said that every day, Bulgarian expatriates devote part of their time and their lives to carrying their homeland within them and dedicating themselves to it. "Folklore is what brings us together and keeps us united through all these years," Nedyalkova added.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church's Metropolitan Anthony of Western and Central Europe spoke of unity, faith, and gratitude to God, emphasizing the spiritual bond connecting Bulgarians abroad. "Here beats the heart of 'the other Bulgaria', the Bulgaria of loyalty, of memory and of hope. A Bulgaria that is not measured by borders, but by love for one's family and homeland," Anthony said.
/VE/
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