37 ensembles from 14 U.S. states and 7 dance groups from Canada will participate in the largest Bulgarian folklore festival in North America - "Verea". Its 13th edition starts on April 27 with a screening of the film "Kaval Park", but the focus is on Bulgarian folk dances. The festival started as a small event more than a decade ago in the Church of St. Sofia, but it has grown and today lasts not one, but three whole days. "Folklore is magic," says organizer Konstantin Marinov, who himself is the magician igniting the spark of love in Bulgarians from all over North America for traditional folklore dances.

"According to the traditions of the festival, all participants gather on Saturday and get to know each other; this year 900 people will celebrate together. However, Verea starts on April 27 with a film by Bogdan Darev from Seattle, it's called ‘Kaval Park’ and it's very interesting. It tells the story of an American of Russian origin - Alexander Eppler, who graduated from the Academy of Music in Plovdiv with kaval and when he returned to the USA he started teaching Americans how to play Bulgarian traditional instruments - it's worth seeing."

The tradition of holding a special dance course within the framework of the festival will also be observed.

"At the invitation of the Horo Ensemble, the main choreographer of the Philip Koutev Ensemble in Bulgaria, Ivaylo Ivanov, is here this year. Irina Gocheva and Todor Gochev, the managers of ‘Horo’ in Chicago, invited him to stage a dance for them and I suggested that he do a workshop, so that people could see how different specialists teach," Konstantin Marinov says and adds:

"On Saturday, April 29, we start at noon and finish at 7 p.m. I wouldn't call this a contest, but a gathering of people who like Bulgarian folk art. We have known most of the bands for many years thanks to the festival. We have also started enriching the festival. There is a film screening, as well as an exhibition of Bulgarian artists from Chicago - eight female artists, as well as artist and woodcarver Ognyan Todorov."

A real folk festival is coming - three days in which the Bulgarians in Chicago will dance, sing and celebrate.

Report by Elena Tsaneva, correspondent of BNR in Chicago

English: Al. Markov

Photos: library; Konstantin Marinov