Almost 4,000 performers from all folklore regions of Bulgaria are taking part in the Rozhen 2023 fair, July 14-16. This year the contest programme will also feature Ukrainian folklore groups from Bolhrad and from Krynychne village in Odessa region, Smolyan municipality, which is organizer of the event, has announced.
A total of 160 vocal and instrumental groups, 195 individual performers, 90 dance ensembles and 20 folk ritual groups will perform on four stages as part of the contest programme. The Ukrainian groups will represent the culture and recreation centre in Bolhrad and the culture house in Krynyche. Some of the Bessarabian performers, who have kept Bulgarian folklore alive, have already taken part in the Rozhen fair.
There is a compact group of Bessarabian Bulgarians living in Odessa region, who have not lost their Bulgarian identity or their bond with Bulgaria. At Rozhen, they will perform emblematic Bulgarian folk songs like Izlel e Delyu haidutin and Kalino mome. They will also join the big horo dance at 12 noon on each of the festival days.
There is another highlight in this year’s festival at Rozhen – the ceremony during which the Bulgarian national flag will be hoisted up a 111-metre high flagpole on the evening of 13 July, a highly-controversial project that has divided the nation right down the middle. The supporters of the idea say it is a patriotic endeavor that will lift the spirits of the nation, while its opponents believe it to be an ostentatious show of pseudo-patriotism, as well as damaging to the environment.
The tradition of presenting traditional Bulgarian culture, with its music, rituals, dances, clothing and lifestyle at Rozhen, has a history going back 125 years.
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Compiled by Veneta Nikolova
Edited, translated and posted by Milena Daynova
Photos: rozhen.bg
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