The tenth edition of the Ethnicity, Colour and Kotel Carpet Festival opened in Kotel’s Izvorite Park on Saturday.
Kotel Mayor Kosta Karanashev said the festival began as an idea a decade ago and had since become an established cultural event. This year, amateur ensembles from 43 community centres across Bulgaria are presenting folk programmes and customs.
Nova Zagora Mayor Galya Zaharieva recalled saying at the inaugural edition that Karanashev had put Kotel back on Bulgaria’s map. “This festival has shown for ten years that what brings us together far outweighs what divides us,” Zaharieva said.
Donated Kotel carpets were presented to the public for the first time, and visitors welcomed the festival mascot Kotlencheto. Rakovski Association Secretary Zdravcho Zdravchev said he donated one carpet because it was linked to the memory of his great-grandfather Krastyu Baychev and his family’s roots in Kotel. “Where it began is where it should return,” Zdravchev said. A great-grandson of Bulgarian revolutionary Rayna Knyaginya, Zdravchev also presented his book Know Your Family and Be.
The festival featured Bulgarian, Turkish, Karakachan, Roma, Croatian-Slovenian and fishing villages, alongside artisan displays, weaving and natural wool-dyeing demonstrations, photography exhibitions and children’s workshops. The Croatian community from Slovenia and Bulgaria was the special international guest, presenting traditional food, music, folklore and customs.
The programme also included the 11th Rodolyubie National Meeting of Luthiers in Bulgaria, with craftspeople competing to make the 2026 instrument of the year in the gaida, kaval, gadulka, tambura and tupan categories.
Saturday evening’s programme will feature Jambol Project, a kukeri procession, the Chinari Ensemble’s National Revival Stories production, singer Orlin Goranov and Akaga.
The festival continues on Sunday, August 2, with The Sea Visits the Mountain in Kotel programme, featuring a quiz, noughts and crosses and other activities for children.
The festival has been part of Kotel Municipality’s cultural calendar since 2016. Its seventh edition in 2023 likewise filled Izvorite Park with folk music, crafts and events celebrating Kotel carpet weaving.
Kotel is one of Bulgaria’s major kilim-weaving centres. A 2026 documentary on the Kotel kilim explored the craft’s centuries-old techniques, symbolism and role in family customs, featuring surviving master weavers as part of efforts to secure UNESCO recognition for the tradition.
