Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

UNESCO recognizes traditional singing from Bulgaria's Dolen and Satovcha as world cultural heritage

Photo: mfa.bg

The so-called "visoko" multipart folk singing from the villages of Dolen and Satovcha, Blagoevgrad region, South-western Bulgaria, has been listed by UNESCO as part of the world's intangible cultural heritage. The decision was made at the 16th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The application was presented by the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The so-called "visoko" (high) singing from the region is a unique four-part singing which received international recognition for the first time in 1988, when the singers from the villages of Dolen and Satovcha were awarded the Herder Prize.

For the 6th time, UNESCO puts Bulgaria on this list, which already includes the Bistritsa grandmothers, firedancing (nestinari), Chiprovtsi carpet weaving, the Surva holiday from Pernik region and the martenitsas which it presented together with Romania, Moldova and North Macedonia.

The film about the presentation to UNESCO is in Bulgarian with English subtitles:




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Ritual food in Bulgarian traditional culture

Ritual food is an integral part of the Bulgarian ritual system. In the calendar of a Bulgarian village more than a century ago, food with meat was rarely consumed. People usually ate meat 4-5 times a year - on Christmas, St. George’s..

published on 6/15/25 11:20 AM

Czech artist Ludvík Kuba dedicates a book to Bulgarian folk songs

At the end of the 19th century, the Czech artist and folklorist Ludvík Kuba travelled to Bulgaria with one goal in mind: to explore the country's rich song heritage.  The melodies he collected were published in a separate volume of his Slavic Song..

published on 4/28/25 12:04 PM

Why is it important for each lazarka girl to participate in the ritual kumichene on Palm Sunday?

In the Bulgarian folk tradition, the feasts of Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday are related holidays. From Lazarus Saturday  (Lazarovden in Bulgaria), girls prepare for the ritual kumichene, which is performed on the morning of Palm Sunday. A very old..

published on 4/13/25 11:56 AM