Festival of the rose and rose picking

Overview

The Rose Festival in honor of the Bulgarian oil-bearing rose is the official holiday of the towns of Kazanlak, Karlovo, Gurkovo, Pavel Banya and Strelcha.

In 1903 the citizens of Kazanlak for the first time organized a Rose Festival. It was dedicated not only to beauty and flowers, but also to charity. Rich exhibitions of roses and flowers were organized, trips to the Shipka Monastery, specially issued cards with views of the Rose Valley on the theme - rose picking, traditional production of rose oil and more. Funds were raised for poor families, the elderly, orphans and those with tuberculosis.

The Rose Festival in Kazanlak received a new development in the 1930s. With the launch of the sub-Balkan line during the Rose Festival, special trains were composed to visit the Rose Valley. Special discounted tickets were issued inviting citizens from different parts of Bulgaria to visit the Rose Valley during the picking to feel the unsurpassed aroma of roses. Charity was again the main goal of the organizers of the Rose Festival. Certain sums were provided for the maintenance of Kazanlak children in Sofia schools.

The restoration of the Rose Festival in Kazanlak took place in 1966 and a special organizing committee was elected for this purpose: Tsvyatko Tsvetkov - Head of the Department of Culture and Art, Prof. Vasil Staykov - Director of the Experimental Station for Oil Rose, Benyo Bechev - Director of Bulgarian Rose Factory, Dimo ​​Martinov, Gergana Tsanova - Director of the Iskra Museum and Mincho Minchev, headed by the Deputy Mayor of Kazanlak Pano Kozarev. Commissions have been set up for landscaping, advertising, finance, trade and organization, cultural and sporting events.

In 1967 in Kazanlak was organized the first national rose festival in which rose growers from Stara Zagora and Plovdiv districts participated.

In 1969, the actor Joro Nikolov - head of the satirical theater at the community center "Iskra" - Kazanlak introduced in his script the carnival procession "Merry Kazanlak led by the chariot of Seuthes III and Queen Rosa.

In 1971, by a decision of the Council of Ministers, the Rose Festival in Kazanlak was declared national.

In 2005 the town of Pavel Banya also organized a show - "CHOICE OF QUEEN ROSE", where the first queen of Pavel Banya became the charming Clover.

Innovative moments in the historical development of the Rose Festival-Kazanlak are: the awarding of the prize to the city of Kazanlak, a plein air of the artists in the Valley of Roses - 1985.

At the Rose Festival in 1986, the new trolleybus line in Kazanlak was inaugurated.

In 1991, the ball for the election of Queen Rosa was held at the House of Culture "Arsenal". The crown of the queen - Maria Peycheva is made of silver and is made by the master goldsmith Lubo Dudev. The rituals of "rose picking" and "rose cooking" continue to be performed with great interest.

In 2000 the ritual "Rozovarene" was demonstrated in the rose gardens of Gorno Cherkovishte, and in 2011 in Rozovo, Kanchevo, Gorno Cherkovishte, Razhena, Gorno Izvorovo and the rose gardens near Kazanlak.

Nowadays, the Rose Festival is of special interest to the Japanese, as nearly 500 tourists come for the event. Kazanlak is twinned with the Japanese city of Fukuyama, an expression of which is a statue called "The Japanese" on Iskra Street, near the city center, in 2015. Since 2014, in Japan, June 2 has been declared the Day of the rose. The date is pronounced "ro dzu", which resembles the name of a flowering shrub.

The ritual "Rose picking and rosary" is the annual central event for official guests and foreign tourists during the culminating Sunday of the century-old Rose Festival in Kazanlak. Pickers in folk costumes, groups for authentic folklore, mummers and dance groups announce the rose gardens and welcome the guests of the holiday. In the fertile rose gardens of the villages of Razhena, Kanchevo, Rozovo, Gorno Izvorovo, Gorno Cherkovishte and Kazanlak, they invite guests to pick from the flower of the gods - the oil-bearing Kazanlak rose, to taste pink jam, gyulovitsa and rose liqueur. The most skillful picker is chosen, who receives a reward for her diligence from the owners themselves. Recreated by professional and amateur folk groups are the rituals "Rose picking" and "Rosing". The rose oil is boiled in the gulpan, and the hosts give the guests the freshly produced rose water.

Every year, on the last Saturday of May, Karlovo organizes its Rose Festival. It begins with the "Rose" ritual in the rose fields around the city. The colorful embroideries of the skirts and the embroidered shirts merge with the colors of the gul bushes, the clear blue sky resounds with folk songs and whistles. From the rose gardens the holiday is transferred to the central square of Karlovo. There, young boys carry the Queen of Roses - the most beautiful girl of the year, selected through a competition. With a wreath of roses and a shower of flowers, she greeted the guests who came to the holiday. A colorful and merry celebration begins with many songs and dances. Loud claps and vats of mummers announce the space. The folklore part of the holiday ends with a vito horo dance.

Traditionally, on this day an art exhibition is opened, which is awarded the prize of the annual competition "Color Aesthetics". In the open, craftsmen and artists present works of folk crafts and applied art. A demonstration of rosary is organized in the city museum of Karlovo.