Photo: Facebook / FOLK ENSEMBLE ORPHEUS
Bulgaria has its representative at the prestigious World Folklore Festival, which will be held from August 15 to 19 in the city of Namur, Belgium. Bulgaria’s representative folklore ensemble “Orpheus” at the House of Culture in Kardzhali has a rich repertoire, but the Belgian audience will hear the best musical samples from all ethnographic regions of Bulgaria.
Located in the French part of the country, 55 kilometers from the capital Brussels, the city of Namur is known for its numerous festivals that are organized throughout the year. Among them is that of street art, which takes place in May together with the international poetry festival. Summer is the time for music festivals, followed by the traditional autumn holidays of the Wallonia region, festivals of French, short and popular science cinema, as well as the usual winter Christmas markets. Among the rich cultural kaleidoscope, which covers all seasons, is also the World Folklore Festival, and the Bulgarian participation in it is a first for our country.
”The organization is made so that in five different shows we present our programs in halls with more than 700 seats”, Mariyana Likova, director of the House of Culture in Kardzhali, told BNR-Kardzhali. “We will show everything that represents Bulgaria – different rhythms, costumes, mood.”
Apart from Bulgaria, groups from Argentina, Bangladesh, Italy, Paraguay, Singapore, as well as the host country – Belgium, participate in the festival.
”In each of the five evenings, all participating countries present different programs. The organizers are making a show in which they show the different traditional dances and music of each of them – Marijana Likova pointed out and added: “We had the right to choose which country to go to, but we chose Belgium, since we have not been on tour before there”.
Based on an interview of Stanislava Georgieva from BNR-Kadzhali
Edited by Joan Kolev
Translation and publication by Rositsa Petkova
