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Elation, happy faces, smiling people, beautiful Bulgarian songs and dances – that was how the first festival of Bulgarian folklore ensembles abroad got started last night in Arbanasi village near Veliko Tarnovo.
The idea for the festival belongs to the Association of Bulgarian Folklore Ensembles Abroad, which has been in existence since 2016 and whose ambition it is to bring together the numerous folklore groups and performers who have been preserving and passing on the beauty of Bulgarian song and dance folklore throughout the world.
At the opening of the forum, the Association’s chair Radoslava Nedyalkova said that organizing the festival was no easy thing, but that the efforts have been well worth it, because now “we are here together”. The choice of location is no coincidence either – Veliko Tarnovo, the country’s old capital city. 
The festival is supported by the Executive Agency for Bulgarians abroad, whose director Rayna Mandzhukova said at its opening that the travelling festival “In the village square of the other Bulgaria” has demonstrated the beauty of Bulgarian folklore around the world. “Every town in another country became Bulgarian,” said Rayna Mandzhukova and went on that with the first festival of Bulgarian folklore ensembles abroad “this beauty is coming home to Bulgaria” which is her own personal dream come true. Rayna Mandzhukova laid emphasis on another symbolic act – that the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad and the Association of Bulgarian Folklore Ensembles Abroad are holding forums in Veliko Tarnovo at the same time, a sign of unity among Bulgarians around the world. 
The events the Bulgarian communities around the world organize should be popularized inside Bulgaria, said at the opening Stoyan Taslakov, chairman of the Bulgarian National Assembly’s Committee on Policies for Bulgarians Abroad.
The festival features performances by Bulgarian folklore formations and individual performers from Italy, Germany, France, Argentina, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden and Romania.
Erica Perales from Comodoro Rivadavia in Argentina told Radio Bulgaria why she chose to perform the famous song Izlel e Delyo Haydutin at the opening of the festival.
It was something Bulgaria’s ambassador to Argentina Stoyan Mihaylov asked me to do, she says. He advised me to sing the song the way I felt it and not to try and copy a professional rendition. I am grateful for the appreciation of my performance, you in Bulgaria know all about Bulgarian music. That is why it means so much to me, living so far from your country, said Erica Perales.
The group Nashentsi from Milan is presenting a diverse repertoire at the festival in Veliko Tarnovo. Its leader, Vanya Parizova has graduated from the National School of Folklore Arts in Shiroka Laka and then music pedagogy at the South-West Universality Neofit Rilski in Blagoevgrad. Vanya has taken an active part in international folklore festivals, competitions and other events: 
“We have been rehearsing round the clock, it is so important to perform well. I am so proud of the members of the group – they are not professional musicians and cannot read music but we have achieved such results with so much hard work.”
The festival is also being attended by Yoan Kadiev – a film director who made a film about the folklore ensemble Lazarka from Munich. Here is what he told Radio Bulgaria about his connection with folklore: 
“When I was doing my master’s degree at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Artsin Sofia there was a project involving covering the jubilee of an ensemble in Munich, and I was admitted as film director. I left in 2003 with a crew to shoot the event and tell the ensemble’s story. That was how I discovered something I was not familiar with until then – folklore.”
The festival of Bulgarian folklore ensembles abroad will go on for two more days in Veliko Tarnovo, with Friday, 25 July being the busiest day of them all – with a dance flashmob in front of Asenevetsi monument and a big horo dance around the monument Mother Bulgaria. There will also be a gala and an award ceremony at the outdoor theatre.
By Gergana Mancheva and Yoan Kolev
Translated and posted by Milena Daynova
Photos: Yoan Kolev, Krasimir Martinov
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