Between 03/07 – 15/07/2013, the Folk Dance Ensemble “Balkan” at Community Center “Tzar Boris III – 1928″, Sofia, with art director Kiril Chirpanliev took part in the 49th edition of the International Folklore Festival “Chateau Gombert” in the city of Marseille, France.

The festival is an established forum for intercultural exchange and establishing lasting contacts and relations between the attending folklore ensembles. Artists from eight countries represented the cultural richness of the world, helping to keep the folk traditions and the start of friendly relations among nations. This edition of the festival was attend by representatives of Argentina, Cyprus, New Zealand, Italy, Slovakia, Spain and France.

The program included dances from all ethnographic regions in order to reveal the uniqueness and diversity of Bulgarian folklore. Besides participation in the concerts, the ensemble ttok part in all related activities – friendly meetings and exchanges, street processions (defiles), exhibitions, meetings of choreographers, conductors and organizers. An important attention in the program of the festival was paid to the activities of the audience with Bulgarian folk dances and games – kids and adults, in which took part the whole ensemble.

The project “Participation of ensemble ”Balkan“ at the International Folklore Festival in France” is co-financed by the municipality program “Culture” 2013 of Sofia Municipality and is implemented to support the candidature of Sofia for European Capital of Culture – 2019.

The participants in the project support the candidature of Sofia for European Capital of Culture – 2019.