This is a festival of Bulgarians, in which with song, dance, speech, clothing, we show the spirit of the Bulgarian people, our Bulgarian tradition, our view of the future with the past, which is in the Bulgarian gene, with every form of expression of our sad fate in songs and dances. This was stated by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov at the opening of the 13th edition of the National Folklore Festival in Koprivshtitsa.
The ceremony was also attended by the Mayor of Koprivshtitsa Maria Toromanova, the Minister of Culture Marian Bachev, the Regional Governor of Sofia Region Silvia Arnautska, and the Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Emanuil Mutafov.
The main media partners of the event are the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, the Bulgarian National Television and the Bulgarian National Radio.
Prime Minister Zhelyazkov emphasized that it is a great excitement for him to be the patron of this wonderful festival, which has long surpassed the boundaries of being a festival of folklore.
The Bulgarian song is a collection of lyrics, a collection of epicness, there is a lot of elegy in it, because the Bulgarian historical destiny has not been joyful, but we also have proud heroic songs, we have many beautiful love songs, noted Zhelyazkov. Today we will all enjoy this. We will hear the unique Valya Balkanska, who will sing "Izlel e Delyo haidutin" and this song in her performance will merge into a unique duet of our universe with the universal song of Valya Balkanska somewhere far away in the stars.
The unique Bulgarian dance is present at every Bulgarian event. There is no occasion - wedding, baptism, birthday, gathering, in which there is no right to horo, said the Prime Minister. In his words, this is the uniqueness of the Bulgarian tradition, of the Bulgarian folk art, which has no written author. Each one of us has been an author of Bulgarian art throughout the centuries. Each one of you is an author of this art, the Prime Minister addressed the guests and participants in the gathering. Even in these wonderful costumes, in which you are in the jewelry in the pendants in the bows, the embroidery, added Zhelyazkov.
Bulgarian embroidery combines within itself that symbolism of the earthly and the unearthly - the elbetitsa, the bear's step, the rooster, everything that makes this mysticism of folk art unique, pointed out the Prime Minister. All this here today in this place, in which there is the beauty of Bulgarian nature, the flower that you have adorned and the smiles that make us feel happy that we are together, happy that we are together as a people, said the Bulgarian Prime Minister at the opening of the festival.