Do you know what Lili Ivanova, Vasil Naydenov, Yordanka Hristova, Diana Express all have in common? They are all iconic performers who started their careers in the 1960s and 1970s, and have left their mark on the popular music of the time – or estrada as it is known in Bulgarian. Those were the most fruitful decades for the “master” of estrada – composer Toncho Rusev. The international music festival The Golden Orpheus was launched in 1965. And even though it was the time of communist totalitarianism, and the word estrada was adopted in Bulgaria from Soviet Russia, the word itself has roots in the French estrade and the Spanish estradа meaning an outdoor elevated platform for music and dance shows.

Popular music is a memory, a bond with childhood, and lyrics that are comforting and can touch our heart to this day,something all guests and friends of Bulgarica center in Chicago, the US will be able to feel for themselves on Saturday, 13 April.

Bulgarian popular music from the 1960s and 1970s – this is the title of a special evening when Bulgarians and all music fans will be able to listen to performers and songs they may have forgotten or performers they know nothing about even though they were active when Bulgarian popular music was being born. The organizers promise a throwback to a romantic spirit from long ago.

With the help of video footage and audio recordings from the past, the guests will be free to sing, dance and get a feel of what Bulgarian popular music is about.

The event kicks off at 7 PM local time at the Bulgarica centre, 1120 Elmhurst Rd, Mt Prospect, IL 60056. Admission is free.
A good way to get into the rhythm of Bulgaria as the 5^th jubilee festival of Bulgarian culture in Chicago approaches. This year it is to take place at the culture centre on 12 May.

Editing by Vessela Krasteva