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[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]If you can't make it to the Pacific Northwest for the FRUA INC WA Heritage Camp on August 5-7 (there is still room - see [url=http://www.orgsites.com/wa/frua-inc/_pgg2.php3]Heritage Camp[/url]).... here is another good reason to come visit. Come to Seattle over Memorial Day weekend for the Folklife Festival! [url=http://www.nwfolklifefestival.org/]Northwest Folklife Festival[/url]
The cultural focus of this year's Seattle Folklife Festival is :woohoo: "a Bulgarian Community Celebration"!!!!! :clap: How cool is that?
:rolleyes: ****WHEN?
Friday, May 27th through Sunday, May 30th. Some of us will undoubtedly be attending all 4 days, but the FRUA INC WA chapter will probably meet up Sunday for lunch.
:D ****WHERE?
Seattle Center
305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA 98109
:cowboy:****COST?
FREE! (donations are appreciated)
Besides the wealth of International food, dance, music and activities that usually abounds at this wonderful event (including the rest of Eastern Europe and Central Asia) - Heres what is lined up specifically for the Bulgarian celebration so far:
:bulgaria: Sunday afternoon: Concert of traditional Bulgarian music and dance, featuring Bulgarian singer Tsvetanka Varimezova and her husband, piper Ivan Varimezov, along with their two daughters on vocals and tambura.
:bulgaria: Sunday evening: Participatory dance featuring local Balkan and Bulgarian dance bands, with dance instruction by Koenig and members of local Balkan dance group Radost.
:bulgaria: A big Kourkeri parade with outlandish traditional costumes!
:bulgaria: Throughout the four days of the Festival: Panel discussions
:bulgaria: A Koukerii parade with full traditional costumes - masks, furs, bells... the whole deal!
:bulgaria: Bulgarian music and dance workshops
:bulgaria: A Bulgarian song workshop by Tsvetanka Varimezova and her daughters
:bulgaria: Discussions of Bulgarian tradition and culture by local community members on the Narrative Stage
:bulgaria: ChildrenҒs activities in the Family Hands-On Activities Area of the Festival.
:bulgaria: An exhibit of photographs taken in Bulgaria in the 1960s and 1970s. The photographs, Voices & Images from Bulgaria, 1966-1979, were taken by Martin Koenig, who first went to Bulgaria over forty years ago with a letter of introduction from Margaret Mead. He was initiated into the world of Bulgarian dance, began traveling to festivals and villages, and quickly realized that he was documenting a traditional agrarian culture that was undergoing radical industrial change. His images, and the text describing them, reveal a life that no longer exists. An exhibit catalog will be available for sale, and Koenig will give scheduled gallery talks during the Festival as well as participate in discussions of his fieldwork on the Narrative Stage.
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And guys! You have a chance to participate:
From Sidney Deering of Radost:
[FONT="Fixedsys"][/FONT]Contact Sidney Deering: Deerings@seanet.com
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An Introduction to the Bulgarian Community
Teodora Minkova, Tacoma | January 23, 2011
The Bulgarian community in the greater Seattle area has an estimated population of about five thousand people, the majority of whom arrived in the last fifteen years. The main influx of Bulgarian immigrants occurred in two waves: the first during the Socialist Regime in 1970s and 1980s, and the second after the United States opened a quota for Bulgaria in the late 1990s as part of the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, also known as the Green Card Lottery.
The background and current occupations of local Bulgarians are diverse. A large number are engineers who work for Microsoft, Boeing, and other private companies and governmental agencies. Many Bulgarians are involved in the restaurant business.
Although there is no formal organization or gathering place for the community, several annual events have become traditions over the years. Each spring in early March, local Bulgarians celebrate the Bulgarian National Holiday (the liberation from the Ottoman Empire) with a children's talent show in Bellevue. In late May, Bulgarians gather to honor the Saints who developed the Cyrillic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius, and they commemorate this important Bulgarian Literacy and Culture Holiday with a barbeque near Lake Sammamish. The website of the community, and the associated mailing list help to exchange Bulgarian-related information.
Several local ethnic dance and music companies feature Bulgarian folklore. Radost Folk Ensemble has been bringing the joy of Bulgarian and Eastern European dance, song, and music to the Seattle area since 1976. The Seattle Balkan Dancers gather weekly for recreational dancing, instructional workshops, and live music. Local performers of Bulgarian traditional and modern music include Balkanarama, Orkestar RTW, Dunava and Druzba, among others."[/FONT]
Dear Fabulous Manly Men,
Express your wild side!
As part of the Bulgarian Focus at this year's Northwest Folklife Festival, we would like to have a loud impressive parade of Kukeri through the Seattle Center grounds. This will be on Sunday May 29 around 1 before the big concert. We have costumes for about 15 guys. I am looking for people who are *not* dancing in the Bulgarian concert, but have stage presence and are comfortable with costumes.
Don't know what I mean or need some inspiration? Google up some images of Bulgarian kukeri. Wow, right?
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