site.btaChiprovtsi Prepares for Festival of Traditional Carpets

A three-day festival of the Chiprovtsi kilims will open on Saturday in Chiprovtsi, Mayor Plamen Petkov said.

The program of the festival from April 26 to 28 April includes concerts of various performers, including Kanatitsa folklore ensemble, Boyka Dangova, Kostadinka Tacheva, 100 Kila, Junona, Stresher dance ensemble, Balkantsi orchestra, Varshets Music orchestra. In the square there will be an exhibition of Chiprovtsi kilims and products of local craftsmen and producers. There will be demonstrations of kilim weaving using the typical Chiprovtsi loom, presentations of traditional weaving and the introduction of modern motifs in the weaving works. Manufacturers and traders will show souvenirs and various products with motifs from Chiprovtsi kilims. Authors of books on the history of the carpet and the Northwest will present their works.

During the festival there will be a children's competition for outdoor drawing with motifs from Chiprovtsi carpets and children's run for the cup of Chiprovtsi Municipality.  

An exhibition of Chiprovtsi kilims made by Rayna Mincheva on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her birth will be arranged. The Мayor told BTA that all events of the festival are free. 

He recalled that the Chiprovtsi carpet has been declared a World Cultural Heritage and many politicians, diplomats and businessmen in Bulgaria and abroad have samples of it. The carpet is slowly weaved by hand, only natural materials and dyes are used for its production, and the typical Chiprovtsi pattern kanatitsa is woven into it. The knowledge and skills for making the carpet are passed on in the families in Chiprovtsi from old to young and so the tradition continues over time. The current festival is the ninth since 2014, and only once has been suspended, in 2021, due to the pandemic.  The Historical Museum in Chiprovtsi reported for BTA that they have a rich collection of carpets made from the 17th century to the present day and many tourists from near and far come to the city to see it.