More than 200 exhibitors will arrive for the 8th edition of the National Festival of Sheep Breeders near Veliko Tarnovo. Traditionally, it is held near the Petropavlovski Monastery and this year it will be from 10 to 12 May. The motto of the festival is “Bulgarian foods from Bulgarian raw materials”. The fair will unfold on a terrain of 140 acres with two scenes, over 5 500 sq. m. exhibition halls, a tent of 1 300 sq.m. for the presentation of different types of sheep and goats, a field for horse racing, exhibition areas, and more.
There will be over 16 breeds of sheep, 8 breeds of dairy goats, different types of shepherd dogs, etc. 30 Bulgarian cattle-breeders will process their own milk at the fair with goat’s and sheep’s milk products. This year the Kurban will be cooked by the sheep breeder Dimitar Varshilov from the village of Brestnik. The festival will include representatives of branch organizations from 17 countries. They will take part in a round table on the challenges for young sheep and goat breeders. This year, three new countries – Armenia, Albania and Uzbekistan – have been asked to take part. There will also be two French sheep associations.
The biggest attraction will be the farm milking contest, sheep shearing and hauling. For the first time, there will be a race for the heaviest ram and goat. Prizes for the first place will be 1000 leva. 60 masters from all over the country will present their crafts at the craft exhibition. In the mobile museum exhibition, there will be authentic folk costumes and re-enactments of old customs.
2000 performers will take part in the eighth edition of the National Folklore Competition. In the three days of the event, the culinary show “In Search of the Lost Taste” will revive old Bulgarian recipes with sheep’s milk, cheese and meat from different parts of the country. There will also be fire-dancing, horo dancing, the “101 Kaba Gaidi” orchestra and more in the Festival’s rich program.
According to the organizers, more than 130,000 people visited the festival last year. The official opening this year is from 11:00 on May 10th. The festival is supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the municipalities of Veliko Tarnovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa and Lyaskovets.
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