Virtual sedyankas: How social media helps preserve Bulgarian folk art

Social media, while often used for communication, advocacy, or even the spread of misinformation, can also serve as a powerful tool for preserving the Bulgarian spirit and cultural heritage. In this sense, it is a modern-day version of the sedyankas—the traditional gatherings where our ancestors would come together to sing, work on handicrafts, and share news and stories in pre-media times.

For several years now, the young folk singers Bisera and Lidiya have embraced this function of social media, and their Facebook following grows with each passing day. They formed a duet six years ago and perform folk music from various regions of Bulgaria. They frequently participate in competitions such as Pirin Folk and the weekly public radio chart BNR Top 20, among others. However, they are better known among social media audiences for their videos of authentic Bulgarian folk songs than among mainstream media viewers and listeners.

“If these songs are not sung, they will disappear — and with them, part of the Bulgarian spirit and our cultural heritage,” says Lidiya. In a recent conversation with Lina Macheva on Hristo Botev, a programme on Bulgarian National Radio, the two singers shared:

“Thanks to social media, we became popular—especially on Facebook, where our main audience is. We started during the COVID pandemic, when we spent almost every day together for three or four months. That period was probably when we developed both as singers and as a duet. We learned many new songs and recorded videos and clips to share online. We focused only on authentic songs, particularly those that were rarely heard, and it quickly became our passion!”

The young singers grew up in different parts of Bulgaria. Lidia, who works in data monitoring, is from Gorna Oryahovitsa in northern Bulgaria, while Bisera, who teaches geodesy and land surveying at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy (UACEG) in Sofia, is from Dragovishtitsa in western Bulgaria.

They say they are very different from each other in demeanor and temperament, but music unites them, and within its space they complement each other perfectly. The formation of their duet, however, according to Lidia, happened entirely by chance:

“We ended up singing together entirely by accident. At a concert at the community center, there was a gap in the program that needed to be filled. I was already performing with a traditional folk group and had only a few hours to learn the singing style of the Shopluka region—Bisera helped me. While she was helping, Bisera decided to add a second voice, and the people around us exclaimed, ‘You two have to sing together!’”

During the recent holiday season, we also remembered last year’s December 25, when they released a professional video of themselves performing a traditional Christmas carol with a unique arrangement, titled “Rozhdestvo” (“Nativity”), on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Their followers responded with praise, leaving comments such as, “Thank you, Bisera and Lidia, for this wonderful work!”, “Bisera and Lidia have divine voices!”, and “You are enchanting, and your voices blend so uniquely—I would love to attend a live concert of yours… Divine!”

Recalling the reactions on social media, the singers told the Radio Bulgaria audience:

"Until then, we hadn’t recorded a Christmas song. It was an idea we’d had for a long time. We came across ‘Zamuchi se Bozha maika,’ sang it, arranged it for two voices, and thought, ‘This is the song!’ The arrangement is by Yordan Yosifov and is slightly different from anything we’ve done before. Perhaps it was the video that drew the first response. It was created by Martin Baltadzhiev, who captured that gentle Christmas mood that blends beautifully with the Christian tradition."

The duet “Bisera and Lidia” has followers in Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia, and many other countries. Last year, they took part in a Bulgarian folklore festival in Cyprus at the invitation of the local Bulgarian community. Their growing popularity may reflect an increasing belief among Bulgarians that if these songs are not sung, they will disappear, along with a part of the Bulgarian spirit and cultural heritage.

At the end of their interview with Radio Bulgaria, Bisera and Lidia wished all Bulgarians good health, more opportunities to come together rather than be divided, and to pass on to their children the same love for Bulgaria that they hold themselves.

Editor: Elena Karkalanova

Posted in English by E. Radkova