Bulgaria Celebrates Annual Rose Festival

Jerusalem, 6 June, 2023 (TPS) -- The Tazpit Press Service was invited to cover Bulgaria’s national Rose Festival as a guest of the Bulgarian Telegraphic Agency. The annual festival is held during the first weekend of June when the roses are in full bloom.

The town of Kazanlak was full of the vibrant colors and fragrant scents of roses and the oils made from them.

The rose picking ritual is a unique festival highlight. The roses are picked early in the morning. Picking must be completed by 9:00 a.m. because the concentration of essential oil in the blossom is highest between 4:00-8:00 a.m. when the dew is heaviest.

Songs are sung in the rose garden and the girls compete to see who can pick the most blossoms. The best picker leads a chain dance in the field.

The roses are strung on a thread, with 70 blossoms to each garland.

Other events included a parade, folk performances highlighting traditional Bulgarian dances and music, as well as a beauty pageant culminating the crowning of the Rose Queen. Visitors learned more about rose oil distillation, rose water production, traditional crafts, and other aspects of the rose industry.at exhibitions and workshops.

Distinguished guests included Bulgarian President Rumen Radev.