It is only during folklore festivals when you can see so many diverse cultures – traditional music, food and crafts. The first of a kind BSS International festival became a truly multicultural celebration with more than 35 countries from 4 continents represented through captivating performances that mesmerized the audience and with more than 500 participants and guests joining us for this extraordinary celebration.
The Festival was organized by the British School of Sofia (BSS) team with the support of students and their parents with the special participation of members of embassies in Bulgaria. The Festival aim was to gather students, their families, teachers and friends to celebrate together the cultural diversity of the BSS community.
The Festival opened with The Parade of Nations – our students and their families dressed in traditional national costumes, manifested through the school carrying the flags of the countries they were representing.
At the stage in the BSS backyard WonderWorld audience enjoyed the festive program in which our students and special guests participated: songs and dances from near and far, beautiful costumes and inspiring performances in different languages.
The Festival was inspiring and exciting, many of the guests got nostalgic, but also felt pride most probably because the feeling of belonging is strongest when you are far from home.
Many of the students of British School of Sofia found the most interesting way to tell about their native country this including the language of music. 7th-grade students from Serbia, Poland, Romania, Kurdistan and South Africa learned sirtaki in order to share a dance with everybody else on stage. 4th-grade students from 10 different countries presented tongue twisters in Spanish, another group of students performed children songs in German. A Vietnamese girl who was used to living only in the USA and in Bulgaria, sang a traditional song in Vietnamese. At the BSS International stage we also saw a beautiful Turkish ballad, a Hulusi performance - a classical Chinese instrument, modern and classic dances – all of them performed by BSS students.
The professionals who also participated in the Festival were also truly amazing – we had dancing groups from Russia and Indonesia. The festive program closed with a performance of Bulgarian folklore ensemble ‘Neda’ and a traditional round dance ‘horo’ – which was danced by many participants from all over the world.
A part of the program was a demonstration of taekwondo club ‘Samson’ where students from BSS go to train and the guests of the festival had the opportunity to dress in traditional clothes from South Korea – brought specially by our guests.
The International Festival participants’ pavilions were placed near to the stage. Our students’ families as well as members from the Sofia embassies prepared delicious traditional meals and drinks that our guests tasted. The culinary journey around the world took us to Great Britain, China, Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Iraq, India, Syria, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and many other places.
Different games and demonstrations were among the surprises by which exhibitors showed their nations and cultures. Bulgaria was presented by the team of Private High School ‘Contstantine Cyril Philosopher’ – teachers and parents had prepared some of the most popular and loved traditional Bulgarian dishes, products with rose oil and souvenirs.
The Festival had also a special charitable cause. BGN 2000 were donated in order to support the nurture of an animal that BSS is about to adopt for a year: Addax antelope - a critically endangered species of antelope known for its long, twisted horns. There are only 3 of that species in the Sofia Zoo.
The International Festival of British School of Sofia was a huge success as it united different cultures and empowered the spirit of unity and friendship.
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