A Day dedicated to Kazanlak – the town in the Valley of Roses and Thracian Kings

Sofia Gallery 19:00

Exhibition – photography and art by the Kazanlak artists

Concert of traditional songs and dances from the city of Kazanlak

Wine Reception

“Arsenal” – Kazanlak FOLK DANCE ENSEMBLE

PRESENTATION

The “KAZANLAK” Folk Dance Ensemble was established in 1947. For the whole period of its existence, the Ensemble has made more than 2000 performances within the country and far beyond its boundaries.
Stormily applauded by millions of spectators from almost all continents of the world, the Ensemble with its successful participation in international folk festivals finds its place among the most famous folk dance groups in Bulgaria. It is a group that so skillfully interprets the Bulgarian folk dance traditional folklore as to bring it to perfection. Its dancers have proved their professional standing in terms of dancing and acting. Awards have always accompanied the Ensemble when participating in the numerous art and musical competitions: “The Golden chest”, “The Golden necklace”, “The Golden goddess of Nike”, “The Golden Axe”. The gold medals won at various international festivals decorate the Ensemble show-case.
Ireland, England, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Greece, Poland, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Romania, Russia, Egypt, Syria, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Singapore are only some of the countries where the Ensemble, with its amazing performances, has won thousands of friends.
The ensemble repertoire includes more than 35 types of dances from all ethnographic regions of Bulgaria. Each dance is played in the respective for the region folk costume, specially designed for the occasion.

Chief art supervisor and choreographer – Mr. Hristo Stoyanov

More about the photographer Alexander Ivanov

• Individual exhibitions

2007 – “A tale of the forest” – during the International Week of Photography, in Balabanov’s house, the old part of Plovdiv
2006 – “A flight over Bulgaria”, February, the Art Gallery in Pernik
2005 – “A flight over Bulgaria”, November, Sofia, National Art Academy Hall, 1 Shipka St; December – the Art Gallery in Kazanlak
2003 – “A tale of the forest”, April – Ruse, Silvena Hall, September – Burgas, Bogoridi Hall
2002 – “A tale of the forest”, May – Sofia, National Palace of Culture, June – Kazanlak, Culture Club, July – Stara Zagora, Bayer Hall
1997 – “Fourth”, Kazanlak
1994 – “Third”, Kazanlak
1987 – “Second”, Kazanlak, Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Plovdiv, Keltze /Poland/
1978 – “First”, Burgas

• Awards

2007 – National Geographic Competition, Bulgaria. First prize in the “Animals” Section and First prize in the “Photo Essay” Section.
2006 – Second prize and Special Prize of “Odyssey” from a photography vacation
2005 – First prze in the “Art Photography” Section in the “Photo of the year” national competition, organized by CANON
1998 – The Big prize in the professional section “A world in colour”, National competition of FOMUS
1996 – First prize. National competition “Land for everybody”
1988 – First prize. International competition ZEISS-PRAKTICA, Berlin
1987 – Two Fourth prizes. International competition ZEISS-PRAKTICA, Berlin
1987 – Photographer of the Year. Competition of the “Bulgarian Photo” magazine
1985 – Second prize. Colour slide biennale, Pleven
1985 – Second prize. International photography vacation “Oasis”
1984 – Second prize. International photography vacation “Oasis”
1983 – Three Fifth prizes. International competition ZEISS-PRAKTICA, Berlin

About the movie “Kazanlak and the Valley of roses”
Directed by Ivan Bonev
The movie “Kazanlak and the Valley of roses” reveals the uniqueness of Rosa Damascena and the region of our town. The harmony among these amazing natural resources, geographic location and suitable climate contributes to the most qualitative rose oil all over the world produced by the oleaginous rose of Kazanlak, as well as the rich culture of the ancient Thracians bring Kazanlak and the Valley as a world destination for tourism.
In 2013 Kazanlak will celebrate 110th anniversary of the festival devoted to the beauty of the Bulgarian rose, grace and youth. The film reveals the whole process of distillation of the unique rose oil, spreading the fame of Bulgaria around the world. The movie tells the story starting with picking the rose blossoms before sunrise, going through the distilleries and ending with the moment when the fragrant blossoms turn into precious liquid and then spread all over the world.
What the “Rose picking” and “Rose distilling” rituals are, what kind of containers to process the blossoms were used by our ancestors, what gyulpana is and what a modern distillery is – all this presented in the film about Kazanlak and the roses.
In gratitude for the generosity of the Queen of flowers the people from Kazanlak elect their Rose Queen. Once elected, she becomes a goodwill ambassador of the town worldwide.
Kazanlak celebrates roses and attracts the interest of thousands of visitors and tourists from all continents. The culmination of the festival is the carnival, which is a multicolored rainbow of colors and emotions while the fragrance of the oleaginous rose of Kazanlak spreads everywhere.
Text by Ivan Bonev

More about Ivelina Stancheva, 11 years old.

Ivelina is only 11 years old, but already has 8 full years of musical experience. She learns singing and solfège in the famous musical school “Emanuil Manolov”.
Ivelina had already won over 30 major awards from different national and international competitions and festivals. She is the winner of the National Competition “Orpheus’ Talent” (Sofia), “Sweet-Singing Skylark” (Burgas), “Sea Stars” (Varna) and various competitions in the cities of Stara Zagora, Plovdiv and others. Ivelina is an active participant in all cultural and musical events in her home town of Kazanlak where she participates in the Festival of Roses and takes an active part in the Chudomir’s Days. Her most recent award is from the European pop competition “Berlin Pearl” (Berlin, 2012).