site.btaBulgarian and International Visitors Attend Rose-Picking Ritual Near Kazanlak
Visitors from Bulgaria and abroad Sunday gathered near Kazanlak for the traditional rose-picking ritual, the high point of the 122nd Rose Festival. Among the official attendees were Vice President Iliana Iotova, National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova, ministers, MPs and local government officials. The ceremony was also attended by ambassadors and Diplomatic Corps representatives, and delegations from Kazanlak's twin towns.
The event was accompanied by folk performances and a ritual introducing this year's Rose Queen Maria Shamburova and runners-up Konstantina Kostadinova and Tanya Chipilska. Many tourists had an opportunity to learn about rose distillation, while visitors from Kazanlak and across Bulgaria enjoyed the rose-picking ritual in the fields near Kazanlak, re-enacted by local ensembles.
Nataliya Kiselova said: "The rose is not only a symbol of the Kazanlak Valley but also a symbol of Bulgaria. This festival demonstrates that the rose represents health, despite efforts at EU level to show that the rose contains harmful substances."
She was referring to EC-proposed amendments to the Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Chemicals, according to which essential oils would be classified as potentially dangerous. In 2023, the Bulgarian MEPs from all political groups acted in unison and swayed a European Parliament vote in favour of a Bulgarian proposal to revise the tentative position on essential oils.
/DD/
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