Zornitsa students’s folklore ensemble from Sofia with artistic director Emil Genov won the first place – Golden necklace at one of the biggest and most prestigious international dance folklore festivals “Fetes de la vigne”.

The 60th anniversary of the festival, held in Dijon, France, from 24 to 30 August 2009, presented 20 groups from around the world. A fancy composition of dances from South America to Malaysia filled the air in the region of Burgundy. The competition was held in the ten-thousand-hall Zenith. The Bulgarian dances were warmly applauded by the audience and the jury. The second and the third place were awarded to the groups from Croatia and Turkey, thus the three awards were attributed to the Balkan folklore.

This is the second time Zornitsa ensemble wins the Golden necklace and at the same time this has been the second prize for this year, after the Golden Carnation prize in Yalova, Turkey in July 2009.