Koprivshtitsa, Western Bulgaria, August 6 (BTA/GNA) – The official opening ceremony of the National Folk Art Festival was held in Koprivshtitsa on Saturday morning. The event was attended by caretaker Culture Minister Velislav Minekov.
He stressed that the Koprivshtitsa festival is part of Bulgarians’ national identity. The Koprivshtitsa Festival has existed since 1965 and was added to the UNESCO Register of Good Practices for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in December 2016.
This year’s edition is expected to involve more than 6,500 singing and dancing groups and individual performers from the 28 administrative districts of Bulgaria.
The songs of Dobrudja and Thrace (regions, partially in Bulgaria), the rhythms of northeners and the bagpipes of the Pirin and Rhodope mountains are being played for three days in the heart of Sredna Gora (mountain range in Central Bulgaria), Koprivshtitsa Municipality Mayor Boyka Dyulgiarova noted.
A congratulatory address was read out on behalf of President Rumen Radev. The regional governors of Sofia Region, Haskovo Region and the Mayor of the Elin Pelin Municipality also sent their greetings.
BTA/GNA