site.btaNational Festival of Folk Art in Koprivshtitsa Went Well, Says Koprivshtitsa Mayor Maria Toromanova

The National Festival of Folk Art in Koprivshtitsa went well, Koprivshtitsa Mayor Maria Toromanova told  BTA.

“Everyone has a different point of view on how the last three days went, but for us it was great euphoria and high spirits. We have been looking forward to this festival for many years and we hope that our guests also enjoyed it very much,” the Mayor added.

She pointed out that this year's 13th edition of the festival on Saturday attracted around 6,500 participants from about 700 groups. The last festival had around 4,000 participants, Toromanova added.

The Mayor noted that the festival had also attracted a lot of interest from abroad. “The accommodation in the city and the surrounding area was fully booked,” she added.

“Of course, there were some difficulties, but we managed well,” Toromanova said. She explained that there had been logistical difficulties and some problems with the infrastructure. “We had difficulties securing ambulances, as the emergency services were unable to provide us with any; they have ambulances but no medical teams. We had to seek assistance from other mayors,” Toromanova added.

She pointed out that their communication with the Ministry of Culture had been very good. “We received great support from Deputy Minister of Culture Ashot Kazaryan and everything was coordinated very well,” the Mayor noted.

This year's edition of the festival was held under the auspices of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. The official opening ceremony took place on August 9. The main organizers of the forum were the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Koprivshtitsa, the Sofia Regional Administration, the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with the Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IEFSEM-BAS).

The main media partners of the event were the Bulgarian News Agency, Bulgarian National Television, and Bulgarian National Radio.