Carnivals and Festivals Calendar
Bulgarians have a number of different traditional ceremonies, festivals and holidays.
There are events dated centuries back, combining pagan with orthodox and folk elements. Most events take place during the summer and attract international participation. Among the most prominent  events are the following:

 
February

Feb 2-5 Kukeri carnavals in Sofia, Stranja and Plovdiv regions  - picturesque street processions with dancers wearing traditional masks and costumes and perform ancient dances to drive away the evil spirits. Participants and visitors from all over the world are welcome to the Third International mask festival held in Rakovski town near Plovdiv on 5^th February.

May

3-23^rd May "Euro Folk 2005" International Folklore Festival held in the medieval Bulgarian capital Veliko Tarnovo

?Euro Folk 2005" the greatest International Folklore Festival will be held within the scope of "Euro Folk 2005" Musical Feasts - The world is television, which is in different European cities and countries from 3 May till 22 September 2005.

Musical Feasts ?Euro Folk 2005? comprise of twelve musical festivals and a Science-practical conference ?Traditional folk arts and the contemporary information technologies?. Main event of the Musical Feasts ?Euro Folk 2005? is Festival No1 in Europe of the traditional folk arts ? Stara Planina Fest ?Balkan Folk ?. Every year in the Festival participate 15000 musicians, singers and dancers.

Typical feature of Musical Feasts ?Euro Folk 2005? is, that all performances are recorded with professional audio and television technics and the best of them will be broadcasted in Europe. Natural contination of this activity is ?Euro Folk? International Festival for TV and Internet Musical Products. In this festival except television and Internet musical products of ?Euro Folk? and ?Balkan Folk? take part also specialists and products from other European and world televisions. All this activities realize the main purpose of Musical Feasts ?Euro Folk 2005? ? The world is television to make popular through the media the traditional folk arts.

May 21- 22 Saints Constantin and Elena Day -Nestinarstvo, or fire dancing; practitioners walk barefoot on hot coals in small rural villages in the Strandzha mountains (or increasingly in tourist resorts) in this pagan event marking the arrival of summer. It is believed the ritual is descended from Dionysian rites practiced by ancient Thracians.

May 28-29^th in Sopot  Traditional Karakachani Assembly ? a unique event where you could enjoy dances, colorfoul costumes and songs survived from the antiquity   

June

29^th May- 12 June Kazanluk Rose Festival- Held every year in early June to coincide with rose petal picking in the Valley of Roses; folk-costumed dancers and singers perform traditional songs and dances. This annual event has been scaled back in recent years.

August

4-7^th August Great Koprivshtitsa Folklore Fest  ? the gratest event ?contest for  authentic traditional Bulgarian music. International guest  performers are welcome. Due to the magnitude of staging this mega-event, it is held only every five years during August. Recent changes include a scaling back in scope to make the event more frequent (most recently held August 13-15 1999), plus the addition of ethnic (Roma, Turkish, Armenian, Jewish etc) folk music along with the traditional Bulgarian folk.  

7-11^th  August   International folk festival in Varna

7-8^th August  International folk festival Plovdiv

20-25^th August  National bagpipe competition, traditional songs and dancing from beautiful Rhodopi mountain where according to the legend was born Orpheus - the magic singer from the Greek mythology.

late August  - Pirin Sings - Like Koprivshtitsa, the magnitude of staging this large event meant it was held but once every two years. The newly formed Pirin Sings foundation hopes to make it into a biennial event. Thousands of singers and dancers from throughout the Pirin region descend on the Predel Col area .

September

29^th August ? 12^th September  Black Sea Fest ?Euro Folk ? Tzarevo 2005?             The Black Sea Fest ?Euro Folk ? Tzarevo 2005? is held within the scope of ?Euro Folk 2005? Musical Feasts - The world is television, which is in different European cities and countries from 3 May till 22 September 2005.