The International Folklore Festival “Vitosha” is held on every year in July in the capital of the Republic of Bulgaria – Sofia.
The first International Folk Festival “Vitosha” was held in 1996.
The organizers of festival are: Association “International Folk Festival Vitosha”, Sofia Municipal Council, Sofia Municipality – Directorate “Culture and Education”, Vitosha Distict, Culture house “Vitosha-1951”, with the courtesy of the Ministry of Culture. Unchanged organizer of International Folk Festival “Vitosha” since its inception has been Folk Dance Ensemble “Sofia-6”.
The International Folk Festival “Vitosha” is one of the cultural events on an international scale and a particularly national significance,which help us to preserve our national look through our folklore.
The festival has established itself as the most important and popular folklore event in the Cultural calendar of the capital. Its specific way of organizing allows an extremely wide range of people to watch it for free on open scenes throughout the city. The opening ceremony of the festival is particularly attractive which is a street parade from the National Palace of Culture through the pedestrian zone of Vitosha Blvd. to Batenberg Square.
The purpose of the festival is to popularize the dance art of different Bulgarian regions and familiarization with the visiting countries’ folklore. The festival is an opportunity to create new contacts and friendships, as well as the opportunity for guests from different countries and regions to explore interesting tourist sites and natural resources.
The International Folk Festival “Vitosha” is a member of the international dance organization FIDAF. At the FIDAF Congress in 2016, the International Folk Festival “Vitosha” was awarded as Best Festival for 2016.
From 2016, on the 20th anniversary edition, the International Folk Festival “Vitosha” has a competitive character.
In 2019, the International Folklore Festival "Golden Dust" will be held from 18.07.2019 until 21.07.2019 in the park "Korminesh" Chelopech municipality.
Only Bulgarian folk groups participate in the competition.
Contacts:
2087 village Chelopech, Municipality Chelopech, Sofia district, boulevard “Osvobogdenie” №1
The 28 International Folk Festival will be held from 28 July to 1 August, 2019 in the city of Varna, Bulgaria.
1. Ensembles performing traditional dances and dances arranged for stage may apply for the following two categories:
• Youth Ensembles over 16 years old;
• Adults’ Ensembles.
2. The ensembles wishing to participate in the 28 International Folk Festival – Varna 2019 should send a letter in English expressing their wish to participate in the Festival not later than 28 February 2019 to the address:
International Folk Festival
Culture Department
Varna Municipality
43, Osmi Primorski Polk blvd
9000 VARNA
BULGARIA
tel. (++359/ 52) 820-667
e-mail: office@varnafolk.co, jasminvasileva@abv.bg, www.varnafolk.com
3. The candidates should send either with their letters or up to 28 February 2019 the following materials:
• short CV of the ensemble in English (maximum 1000 symbols, including blanks);
• high quality colour pictures or slides of the ensemble for the catalogue (CMYK, 300dpi resolution; properties - dimension Heigh min 15 cm; formats - TIFF, EPS, JPG, PNG);
• recent video recordings (DVD, format as AVI, MPEG4, DIVX) with ensemble’s performance not shorter than 15 minutes;
• short film on DVD up to 5 min. about participant’s country and city.
4.The Organizing Committee covers the expenses of the ensembles for their stay in Varna during the festival period from 12:00 midday on July 28, 2019 to 10:00 a.m. on Augus 2, 2019.
5. The number of participants is not to be over 25 persons, including accompanying people and drivers (if the group travels by bus). Groups over 25 persons will not be admitted.
6. The travelling expenses to and from Varna are to be the responsibility of the participants themselves.
7. In the beginning of April 2019 the Organizing Committee will send official invitations to the ensembles, approved for participation in the festival.
8. The ensembles are expected to be ready to take part in the Festival programmes with:
• two different performances respectively for the Opening and Closing ceremonies up to 7 min.;
• fragment performances for the processions 3-5 min.;
• block performance lasting 20 minutes;
• performance 30-40 minutes.
Note: The Organizing Committee will consider only the candidatures of those ensembles who have sent the above required promotional materials in due time.
The International Festival of Folklore Costume in Zheravna was created in 2008 on the idea of Hristo Dimitrov - producer, choreographer and director of NFA "Bulgare"
In the year 2019, the 47th edition of the Festival is to be held. Burglars and guests of the city will be able to touch again the authentic life and culture of different peoples between August 26th and August 30th.
The anthem at the festival is "Bloody Bird".
Contacts:
Victoria Stamboliyeva (Coordinator)
tel. 0886 050660
e-mail: mff_burgas@abv.bg
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