First National Folk Art Festival "History of Rhythms"

On the 17th and 18th of June, the first edition of the National Folk Art Festival "History of Rhythms" will be held in the Festival Zone next to the Historical Park. Bands and performers from all over the country have expressed their desire to participate. The purpose of the event is to motivate creative process and encourage efforts to preserve folk art and our cultural and historical heritage. During the festival days, the various talents will present to the public their musical performances, folk dances and preserved Bulgarian customs handed down from generation to generation. All visitors to the Historical Park will have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty and richness of traditional national art. Depending on the age and the chosen category for participation, the guardians of folklore will show their talent in front of the general public and the authoritative jury chaired by Prof. Dr. Lozanka Peycheva: musicologist, ethnologist and expert in the Department of "Folkloric Strudies" at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The organisers are the folklore television "Sunrise Music" and the music company "Sunrise Marinov", with the support of the Historical Park.

Graduates of community centres, kindergartens, municipal children's complexes and schools, amateur formations and clubs, professional folklore schools, general education schools with profiled or extended training in folk music aged 3 to 18 and over 19 can participate in the event., as well as students from the national arts schools from 5th to 12th grade and students from the higher music academies. A competent five-member jury will evaluate and rank the participants.

Members of the jury are:

• Dr. Vanya Moneva: conductor of the "Vanya Moneva" Choir and teacher at the "Pancho Vladigerov" National Academy of Arts - Sofia,
• Prof. Dr. Ventsislav Dimov : musicologist, ethnologist, teacher at the Institute for the Study of Arts and SU "St. Kliment Ohridski
• Julian Stanev - artistic director of Ensemble "Varna".

Prestigious awards and honours will be won by the best performers, and all performers will have the opportunity to use special prices for visiting the Historical Park during the festival days.

The contest starts on Saturday, the 17th of June, at 10 a.m.

Performers from all categories and fields will participate on this day.

The awarding ceremony of the performers will take place after the end of the competition: on the 18th of June, at 8 p.m.

All those who wish can announce their participation, choosing from among the six categories: vocal performers; instrumentalists; vocal performers of stylised folklore; artists of urban songs; dance art presented by dance ensembles, schools and clubs for folk people; folklore ensembles; presentation of folk customs; folk humour.

The organisers have prepared numerous prizes, some of which are a video and broadcast on the folk TV channel "Sunrise Music"; the opportunity and right to participate to a photo shoot or a video on the territory of the Historical Park, an award for the conductor of the Orchestra for Folk Music of the Bulgarian National Radio and an award from Vanya Moneva: conductor of the "Vanya Moneva" choir.

The accommodation of the participants from Bulgaria will be in the unique yurt village, where in the evening, by the fire, everyone will be able to communicate, share creative ideas and have fun.

About the power of Bulgarian folklore, the world-famous conductor Yordan Kamdjalov says: "Being Bulgarian has helped me a lot. Given 1,000 more choices, I'd be born right here. Bulgarian folklore has given me a lot. I don't know how I would have thought and what criteria I would have had for music without having heard this music that does not exist anywhere else on the planet. Truly a music from another world. When I listen to authentic Bulgarian folklore, everything else starts to seem a bit frivolous. This is phenomenal. I have no explanation for this music, I don't know at all how it can arise. I would take Bulgarian folklore as the top copy of the national strategy for the face and business card of Bulgaria throughout the world. I would bet on Bulgarian folklore and Bulgarian history. There are things there where we don't need to catch up, we're light years ahead."

We welcome all lovers of native folklore and history.

Share this article if you know people who might be interested in participating.

Requests and registrations are accepted until the 8th of June, 2023 by email [email protected] or by phone +359 896 612 175.