The first edition of the Annual Folklore Music Awards has come to an end. In 2014 it was dedicated to renowned folk singer Boris Mashalov and his 100^th birth anniversary.

They call the Annual Awards the Bulgarian Folklore Oscars and that is joke. There are more than 10 categories and the final result is up to both experts and fans. The town of Smolyan was the venue of the forum's first edition. Legendary Dobrudja singer Verka Siderova received the award for overall achievement, as announced at the beginning of the year.

The idea for the Annual Folklore Music Awards belongs to Konstantin Lazarov – former folk dance performer and founder of the Mentsi folk music radio. In his words awards come as recognition of the achievements of instrumentalists, singers etc. They are awarded for professional achievements in different areas and also for significant non-material folklore heritage. The nominations are made following a given system and the voting takes place on the website of the Annual Awards.

The latter are individual and collective. Some of the award winners had live performances at the Smolyan concert; others were represented via multimedia tools. Here is what Mr. Lazarov told a Radio Bulgaria reporter:

“I owe a big thank you to Dobrinka Georgieva – Boris Mashalov’s daughter, who allowed us to use his name in the title of the First Annual Awards. We are also thankful to the municipality of Smolyan for their  support, as well as to all the donors that made the awards possible. Chief Creative Director of the Rodopa Ensemble Adrian Petrov contributed a great deal to the wonderful show. Dobrinka Georgieva wrote a text, presenting to the audience the most important moments in the artistic life of her father. We recorded the presentation and broadcast it at the start of the show. We also played his emblematic Zableyalo Mi Agance /A Bleating Lamb/. The audience got to their feet to pay tribute to the work of the great singer. I would like to say here that we also have a Donor of the Year award, as I find it really important to mention business people, who donate money for folklore…”

The Sbogom /Farewell/ instrumental piece from the album of gadulka (rebec) player Georgi Petrov received the award in the Instrumental category. The man passed away a few months ago, but he had been nominated back in February and with no competition at all – a tribute to his mastery…

Shepherd's flute player Nedyalko Nedyalkov is another undisputed name at the contest, awarded for his new album Iskam da Kazha /I Want to Say/.

“The idea for the awards is really good,” Nedyalko says. “The categories comprise soloists, duets and trios, ensemble arrangement, choreography etc. Nestinarstvo or fire-dancing was recognized inthe living folk heritage  category. The awards went to a woman, probably the oldest dancer on live embers in Bulgaria. I do like the idea of Konstantin Lazarov for a forum, bringing together artistes from different spheres and I will do my best to support him from now on. The organizers have taken the decision each year to devote the awards to prominent names in folk music who have left their mark in history. In 2015 tthe award ceremony will be in the town of Trun – the hometown of great Bulgarian folk singer Giurgya Pindzhurova to mark her 120^th birth anniversary.”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev