site.btaInternational Ensembles to Present Their Traditions at Folklore Festival in Kazanlak

The International Folklore Festival in Kazanlak began on Friday. Ensembles from all over the worls will take the stage in the next three days, presenting their traditions and folklore to residents and guests of the city.

The International Folklore Festival is one of the traditional events included in the programme of the Rose Festival in Kazanlak, and groups from all over the world have participated in it over the years, Teodora Georgieva, Director of the Iskra Municipal Library, co-organizers of the event festival together with the Municipality of Kazanlak, told BTA. After a short break, the initiative was resumed by Mayor Galina Stoyanova in 2013 and since then it has been organized annually.

The festival will last three days, during which ensembles from Kazanlak's sister cities Jinan in China, Jung-Gu in South Korea, Didymoteicho in Greece, Kocani in the Republic of North Macedonia will take the stage. Folklorists from Lai Chau in Vietnam, who signed Memorandum of Cooperation this year, will be visiting Kazanlak for the first time.

Traditionally, the festival also includes local ensembles, who in turn present the native traditions and folklore to the guests, Georgieva explained. In the first evening, the hosts from the Iskra Ensemble led by Tsvetan Tsochev will perform. 

On saturday, youth folklore dance troupe Arsenal with artistic director and choreographer Vanya Mincheva will take the stage. The ensemble's repertoire includes dances from all ethnographic regions of Bulgaria. Formations from the Zhar2002 Community Centre, club Trakiitsi with artistic director Valentin Angelov, as well as the club Yanina from the the village of Enina, will also take part.