Bulgarians, Greeks and Turks showcase their folklore at a festival in Sladun

On September 12 and 13, 2026, the village of Sladun, Svilengrad Municipality (Southern Bulgaria), will welcome participants and visitors to the 15th International Folklore Festival "With the Songs of Kichka Savova". The event will take place in the village square and is dedicated to preserving and promoting the musical legacy of the renowned Bulgarian folk singer Kichka Savova.

The main objective of the festival is to preserve the authentic Bulgarian folklore, promote local traditions and showcase songs, dances, melodies and customs characteristic of the country's various ethnographic regions.  A mandatory requirement for vocal groups and individual performers is to include at least one song from Kichka Savova's repertoire in their program.

The festival's competition program is open to individual performers—singers and instrumentalists—as well as vocal groups performing authentic and arranged folklore, dance ensembles, and groups presenting traditional folk customs. Participants will compete in two age categories: under 18 and over 18.

A jury of distinguished folklorists and ethnographers will evaluate the performances and select the recipients of the festival's Grand Prize, the Kichka Savova Award, the organizers' awards, the Mayor of Svilengrad Municipality Award, and the awards presented by the Kichka Savova Foundation.

For the past five years, the festival has welcomed international participants, bringing together performers from Bulgaria, Greece and Türkiye on one stage. Despite the language barrier, foreign participants most often present traditional dances, though some also perform Bulgarian folk songs, including pieces from Kichka Savova's repertoire.

In 2023, Sevim Kurtulush from the city of Bursa, Republic of Türkiye, performed the song “Opustyala zemya varbanashka” (“The Varbanashka Land Lies Desolate”). It turned out that Sevim is a Bulgarian émigré from the Ruse region who has lived in Türkiye for more than 40 years, yet has preserved her love for Bulgarian folk songs and music.

The guest ensembles showcase the richness and beauty of Thracian folklore, preserved and developed by communities on both sides of the border—in Greece and Türkiye.

A complementary tourist program has also been arranged for all participants, including visits to the Thracian Beehive Tomb near the village of Mezek, the Bukelon Fortress near the village of Matochina, as well as a sightseeing tour of Svilengrad. The town is located in close proximity to the point where the borders of three countries—Bulgaria, Greece and Türkiye—meet.

The festival is organized by the Izgrev-1928 Community Center in the village of Sladun, with the support of Svilengrad Municipality, the Kichka Savova Foundation, the local mayor's office, the Ministry of Culture, and the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The media partner is the Bulgarian National Radio through its regional program Radio Kardzhali.

The official opening of the festival is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on September 12.

Applications for participation will be accepted until September 1, 2026, by post, via email at izgrev1928@abv.bg, or through the festival's online application form at kichkasavovafest.eu.

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov