The Rozhen National Folklore Fair (Bulgarian: Национален фолклорен събор „Рожен“, Natsionalen folkloren sabor „Rozhen“) is a major Bulgarian folklore fair that is held every four years on the meadows of the Rozhen area in Smolyan, Smolyan P…
The Rozhen National Folklore Fair (Bulgarian: Национален фолклорен събор „Рожен“, Natsionalen folkloren sabor „Rozhen“) is a major Bulgarian folklore fair that is held every four years on the meadows of the Rozhen area in Smolyan, Smolyan…
01 · What it is
Storytelling
Spoken epic, verse, ballad, proverb, or narrative transmitted aloud.
02 · Where & name
Bulgaria
Written in its own script on record as Национален фолклорен събор „Рожен“.
03 · How it is doing
□□□□ (Not yet assessed)
Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
04 · Proof & reuse
1 cited source
Every claim links to a public record below. Free to quote, teach, and share under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Common Questions Answered on Record
What is Rozhen National Folklore Fair in plain words?
The Rozhen National Folklore Fair (Bulgarian: Национален фолклорен събор „Рожен“, Natsionalen folkloren sabor „Rozhen“) is a major Bulgarian folklore fair that is held every four years on the meadows of the Rozhen area in Smolyan, Smolyan… In local script on record, it is written Национален фолклорен събор „Рожен“.
Where is Rozhen National Folklore Fair practised or documented?
Sources on this page place Rozhen National Folklore Fair in Bulgaria.
What is the current condition of Rozhen National Folklore Fair today?
□□□□ (Not yet assessed): Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
How do I cite or share this Rozhen National Folklore Fair entry?
Cite as: "Rozhen National Folklore Fair." folkroom, https://folkroom.org/art-forms/rozhen-national-folklore-fair, text CC BY-SA, with attribution.
The Rozhen National Folklore Fair (Bulgarian: Национален фолклорен събор „Рожен“, Natsionalen folkloren sabor „Rozhen“) is a major Bulgarian folklore fair that is held every four years on the meadows of the Rozhen area in Smolyan, Smolyan Province, of southern Bulgaria. The festival is a celebration of Bulgarian folk dance, singing, and artisanal crafts.
The first fair was held in 1898. At the time, the border between Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire ran through Rozhen Peak, and Bulgarians from neighbouring villages on both sides of the border would gather. Initially, the fair was annual, and took place every year with the exception of 1901, 1903, 1906 and 1907.
After 1912, when the Rhodopes were liberated from Ottoman rule, the fair lost its political importance, but nevertheless remained a symbol of freedom, Bulgarian unity and traditions. Initially only targeted at Rhodopean music and dances, the fair later became a nationwide event, a festival and a singing competition at once, as well as the largest folk song festival in the country.
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Rozhen National Folklore Fair”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.
Rozhen National Folklore Fair is recorded in open cultural data. The structured record cited below does not describe the practice, and this entry has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 1
The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. 1
