Tryphon Zarezan – the king of vineyards
The election of a "king of the vineyards" is an ancient Bulgarian custom, celebrated in Northern Bulgaria to this day. The "King of the Vineyards" festival is a form of the Greco-Thracian Dionysian celebrations. BECOME A VIRTUE ♥The election of a "king of the vineyards" is an ancient Bulgarian custom, celebrated in...
The Clean Capital Project – two boys inspire Bulgarians to clean up their favorite urban spaces
I have always believed that a person is best educated by receiving good examples. I have always believed that a person is best educated by receiving good examples. One such example of self-initiative and personal civic responsibility, which every person...
Rusalii and Kalushari - ancient rituals for health and fortune
Our lands have an ancient history. Here customs from ancient times are preserved, which today still attract the curiosity of the viewer. The most famous characters in our folk ritual games are the kukeri, the nestinari and the koledari. The participants in these games constitute secret male...
The carolers and their mystical songs
There is undoubtedly something magical, something extraordinary in Bulgarian folk songs. They seem to reveal a new and unknown world before our eyes. A world filled with adventures, fabulous events, mythical creatures. A world from which we can draw a huge dose of...
The myth of the "toasts" in the village of Yugovo
In the central part of the divine Rhodopes, among the incredible sounds of the kaba bagpipe, is located the small village of Yugovo. artist: Vesko Radulov / painting / oil paints / village of Yugovo In the central part of the divine Rhodopes, among the incredible sounds of the kaba bagpipe, is...
"Residence Baba" - 2019 will send 20 young people from all over Bulgaria to live in 3 Vidin villages
Applications are open until June 30th! "Residence Baba" - the popular and nationally recognized initiative of the "Idea Factory" association, for the fifth consecutive year will organize the stay of 20 socially engaged young people in elderly households in villages from...
The songs of the village of Dryanovo – from grandmother to granddaughter. The mission continues.
The project of the "NISHAN" association immersed ten students who are engaged in folk singing in the authentic Rhodope folklore of the "Dryanovskite Baba". In the summer of 2018, ten girls and boys from the "Dobrin Petkov" National Music and Drama School - Plovdiv and the Chepelare Youth Cultural Center, spent 5 days in...
For freedom and the Bulgarian spirit – a teacher saves an entire village with just music and a big heart
Gloomy, lonely and sinking into ruin – this is how most Bulgarian villages look today. Gone are the blooming gardens, the freshly mown fields and the smell of freedom. Only here and there, through the broken windows, the spirits of those who have left not only this...
The abandoned mineral springs in Bulgaria
Until about thirty years ago, Bulgaria was called the "Land of Mineral Springs". It was said that there were about 5,000 of them, and in many statistics this natural resource was highlighted as: "A national treasure of exceptional importance". photo: Zdravko...
The abandoned mineral springs in Bulgaria
Until about thirty years ago, Bulgaria was called the "Land of Mineral Springs". It was said that there were about 5,000 of them, and in many statistics this natural resource was highlighted as: "A national treasure of exceptional importance". photo: Zdravko...
The songs of the village of Dryanovo
Ten students from vocational high schools will study authentic Rhodope folklore in a village singing workshop, directly from the original source. Between July 9 and 14, 2018, ten girls and boys who are involved in folk singing will immerse themselves in local folklore and...
Myths as a source for history. Mythical Bulgarian heroes
"Myth is a way of understanding the world, an emotional experience of its phenomena, but it is by no means a genre of verbal art. Myth is a fact of world perception, which can be given a different form - a song, an action, a fairy tale, a story, a name." And more...
About the Feminine, the Mother Goddess and folk embroidery – an interview with Yulia Boeva
Our meeting with Julia, a long-time researcher of Neolithic symbolism and folk embroidery; author of the books: "The Wisdom of the Great Mother", "The Goddess and the Horned Heads" and "The Goddess and the Two-Headed Horse", took place at the first national embroidery festival, organized in...
The "NISHAN" Association revives the tradition of the Rhodopean sedyanka in a modern form
The young people, founders of the newest organization for the preservation of our traditional heritage, invite all who wish…
"Residence Baba" brings life back to depopulated Bulgarian villages!
"And so you live the same life again, in the same house and in the same village, but you are already a changed person - your life is fuller, your days and evenings are more pleasant. The bread you eat becomes more pleasant to you." (grandmother from the village of Djurkovo, part of "Grandmother Residence 2015") We need...
The town of Dryanovo in Bulgarian historical memory
Near Dryanovo are the Roman fortresses of Discoduratera, Strinava and Boruna, which were also used during the era of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (12th-14th centuries), as part of the front fortification system of the capital city of Tarnovgrad. Local legends tell that the surrounding fortresses...
Bright memories of Gorna Oryahovitsa
When recounting the earliest documented information about life in Gorna Oryahovitsa, we must go back to the years of the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520 – 1566). The Sultan had a great weakness for his beloved wife from the harem, the former slave of the Crimean Tatars,...
Streams of beer will flow from the "Blue Stones"
The story of the two old beer connoisseurs begins with the idea that has inspired them since 2014. Over the next two years, Yordan Chenkov and Penyo Georgiev researched, tested, built and, together with the help of friends, established the flavors of their beer. The recipe is not...
Petition in support of the integrity of the "Folk Song and Dance Ensemble" - Sliven
The "Folk Song and Dance Ensemble", as well as the Sliven Symphony Orchestra, risk having their membership reduced by at least 50%. If the merged entities agree to the "recovery plan" of the city mayor to enter into force, without additional review and development, this...
"Residence Baba" settled in the Northwest
Young people share the homes and daily lives of elderly people from the villages of Kostalevo, Pavolche and Chelopek for the month of "Grandma Residence" - the innovative initiative of "Factory for Ideas", which connects young people from the city with elderly people from the villages, looking for fruitful intersections...
Folk crafts – symbols of hard work and expressions of the aesthetic ideals of Bulgarians
Bulgarian traditional crafts and home activities create objects and works whose value proves to be impressively resistant to the forces of time. To make the various products, Bulgarians have used local raw materials and materials, such as...
"Grandma Residence" 2016 is looking for a "new crop" of residents to help the Bulgarian village
Between July 15th and August 3rd, those wishing to join the second edition of "Grandma's Residence" and spend 1 month helping a Bulgarian village can apply on the initiative's website. "Grandma's Residence" - the "Idea Factory" initiative, which connects...
The famous Cherven – a cultural center from the Second Bulgarian Kingdom
If we ask ourselves how the urban type of living developed not only in the Bulgarian lands, but also in Europe, we will have to look at ancient Rome. What are the famous cities in Europe from Roman times? Rome, Naples, Mediolanum (Milan), Lutetia (Paris), Massalia (Marseille),...
I am Bulgarian, I LOVE
I have lived in America for 20 years. I was one of those who grew up during communism, proudly reciting the poem "I am a Bulgarian" because I was lucky enough to grow up in a family of educated people with values. As a child, I thought I was doomed to never travel outside...
Touches from the past of the first liberated Bulgarian city
Rumen Daskalov notes that after the Liberation, only four settlements in Bulgaria have a pronounced urban appearance – Plovdiv, which is part of Eastern Rumelia, and the Danube trading ports of Ruse, Svishtov and Vidin. Svishtov is among the leading administrative centers of...
The Social Change Challenge of the "Idea Factory"
An effective cure is being sought against the mass epidemic of "Golemoprazie" in the country. After two successful editions, hundreds of "changemakers" invested time, effort and inspiration in solving socially significant current problems in 7 regions throughout Bulgaria,...
Bozhentsi – the picturesque village with a Bulgarian Renaissance spirit
Nestled in a small valley among the northern slopes of the Stara Planina Mountains, near Gabrovo and Tryavna, is the cozy village of Bozhentsi. According to legend, it was founded at the end of the 14th century, when the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire - Veliko Tarnovo, was under Ottoman rule...
The village at the edge of the Balkans
In the middle of the Stara Planina Mountains, 10 km from Troyan, in a hamlet with about twenty permanent residents, reached by a single bus every three days, I spent unforgettable summers as a child. We had a villa and we were from "Sofia", along with other villa owners seeking the tranquility of the mountains,...
The living spirit of the old Bulgarian village – “Grandma Residence” and “Dryanovskite Baba”
The growing problem of the depopulation of Bulgarian villages and the loss of the thread with our roots is becoming more and more painful. Many of us live abroad and suffer their absence at this, so important moment for Bulgaria. So am I, thinking for years, what could...