Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

In Strandzha, everyone sings in harmony with nature

Folklore competition "With the songs of Zlatka Stavreva" gathers ‎performers from all over Bulgaria

‎"Folklore gives us the most generous gifts - strength, health, love and comfort," ‎says Bulgarian folk singer Zlatka Stavreva. Known among connoisseurs as the ‎‎"white swallow of Strandzha", she tirelessly conveys to young people her love ‎for songs from the southeastern part of Bulgaria. ‎

On April 29 and 30, the first edition of the National Competition "With the ‎songs of Zlatka Stavreva" will be held in Burgas, in which nearly 1,000 ‎performers from 44 towns and villages throughout the country will participate. ‎

The idea for this folk contest came from the Youth Folklore Union in the person ‎of its chairman, Dr. Nikolay Gurbanov, and vice-chairman, Kostadin Mihailov, a ‎researcher of the cultural and historical heritage of the Strandzha region. 

Zlatka Stavreva
"They ‎gave the  idea to organize a contest with the songs that I perform and connect it  ‎to my 70th anniversary and 30 years since the creation of the first Strandzha duet ‎‎"Stavrevi Sisters" - shared Zlatka Stavreva to Radio Bulgaria and added that ‎among Among the participants there is also one representative of Belarus - Olga ‎Naskovich.‎

What is the captivating power of the songs from the Strandzha region?‎

‎"In Strandzha, all people sing because they sing in harmony with nature - this ‎beautiful mountain, the vastness that Strandzha possesses and this beautiful ‎ornamentation cannot be sung by every artist, but there are also songs that suit ‎them and they are excited to perform. There is another thing - people from the ‎interior of Bulgaria are interested in the folklore dialect of Strandzha and how ‎this complex ornamentation is produced. One life for the song is not enough – ‎the folklore are, as we know, is the deep essence and life force of our people. ‎And the most important thing is that this is an inviolable sign that our people ‎were, are and will remain strong, because Bulgarian folklore art has become a ‎symbol of Bulgaria in the world."‎

The songs from the Strandzha region are the most beautiful thing that is related ‎to me, Zlatka Stavreva tells us and adds that she can convey her love for the ‎song to anyone, as is the case with a group from Canada - guests at the ‎international folklore festival "Atliman necklace" who stayed in Bulgaria to learn ‎two Strandzhan songs from the source.‎



‎"All the songs are very nice to me, they are all my favourites, but one of the first ‎songs that my sister Irina and I sang together, and the sorceress of Strandzha ‎Magda Pushkarova supported us, is "Last night I went to Brodilovo selo", and ‎also "Despinka was saying to her mother". One of my ‎emlbems as a solo song is ‎‎"She was leading the round dance fast".‎



These and many more songs from Zlatka Stavreva's rich repertoire will be ‎performed in Burgas by folk singers and groups from all over the country. ‎‎"Our ‎goal is to give way to young talents and to stimulate interest among younger ‎people in the folklore wealth of Strandzha and of Bulgaria," Zlatka Stavreva ‎shares.‎

Read also:
Photos: archive, personal archive

Translation and publication by Rositsa Petkova


Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Esther Willems - choreographer from The Hague who believes that the Bulgarian soul is encoded in the dances

The Hague, a city in the south of the Netherlands, the administrative centre and the place where the Queen lives and works...  Hardly anyone associates this city with Bulgarian folklore and traditions. But the fact is that the interest in..

published on 7/4/24 8:12 PM

With the magic of the horo dance in Razlog

On June 28 and 29th, the city of Razlog, in the region of Blagoevgrad, will present the magic of Bulgarian folklore. In these days, the XIII Festival of traditional horo dance will be held on the central square "Preobrazhenie".  The..

published on 6/28/24 8:25 AM

Midsummer herbs and water have magical powers

Early in the morning, young men and women gather in the meadows to play with the sun. "It is believed that the sun dances and shimmers on Enyovden at sunrise, because it is the longest solstice of the year". This is the most important thing to know about..

published on 6/24/24 7:00 AM