The Rozhen National Folklore Fair (, ''Natsionalen folkloren sabor „Rozhen“'') is a major
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
n
folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
fair held every four years on the meadows of the Rozhen area in
Smolyan
Smolyan () is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the Smolyan Province. The town is built along the narrow valley of t ...
municipality,
Smolyan Province
Smolyan Province (, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre — the ...
, in the
Rhodope Mountains
The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak ...
of southern Bulgaria. The fair's goal is to popularize the Bulgarian folk dance and song art and it lasts for two days in August.
The first fair was held in 1898. At the time, the border between Bulgaria and the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
ran through Rozhen Peak, and Bulgarians from neighbouring villages on both sides of the border would gather. Initially, the fair was annual, and took place every year with the exception of 1901, 1903, 1906 and 1907.
After 1912, when the Rhodopes were liberated from Ottoman rule, the fair lost its political importance, but nevertheless remained a symbol of freedom, Bulgarian unity and traditions. Initially only targeted at Rhodopean music and dances, the fair later became a nationwide event, a festival and a singing competition at once, as well as the largest folk song festival in the country. The peak was in 1972, when 3,500 musicians and dancers participated (of which 300
gaida
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, Nor ...
players) and the audience reached 150,000.
The fair is traditionally opened with the ''Bela Sam Bela Yunache'' („Бела съм бела юначе“) song, the unofficial anthem of the Rhodopes, and reaches its climax with the ''Zvezden Rozhen'' („Звезден Рожен“; "Starry Rozhen") performance, when, on the evening of the first day, under the stars, the most prominent Rhodopean singers perform the best known songs from the region.
Gallery
Image:Rozhen 2006 2.JPG, Girls singing (President of Bulgaria
The president of the Republic of Bulgaria (, romanised: ''Prezident na Republika Bŭlgariya'') is the head of state of Bulgaria and the commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian Army. The official residence of the president is at Boyana Residence, S ...
Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov (, ) (born 28 June 1957) is a Bulgarian historian and politician who was President of Bulgaria from 2002 to 2012. He was elected after defeating incumbent Petar Stoyanov in the second round of the November 2001 pres ...
is in the background in the centre)
Image:Rozhen 2006 3.JPG, A boy playing the folk string instrument
In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners.
Musicians play some ...
gadulka
The gadulka () is a traditional Bulgarian bowed string instrument. Alternate spellings are "gǎdulka", "gudulka" and "g'dulka". Its name comes from a root meaning "to make noise, hum or buzz". The gadulka is an integral part of Bulgarian traditi ...
Image:Rozhen 2006 5.JPG, Overview of the Rozhen Meadows crowded with people during the fair
References
External links
{{coord missing, Bulgaria
Music festivals in Bulgaria
Tourist attractions in Smolyan Province
Bulgarian folk music
1898 establishments in Bulgaria
1898 in music
Festivals established in 1898
Music festivals established in the 19th century
Folk festivals in Bulgaria
Recurring events established in 1898
Summer in Bulgaria
Dance festivals in Bulgaria