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Rhododendron Festival 2010

May 10, 2010
Over 800 people attended the eighth edition of the Rhododendron Festival, which took place on 7 and 8 May in Strandja Nature Park. The festival started in the Tulpan area near the village of Zabernovo with a rich and attractive programme - performances of folklore groups from Strandja villages, contest of bagpipers from the whole country, tasting the various homemade specialties, contest for ritual bread making, demonstration of various crafts and many others. The bravest climbed on rope gardens installed between ancient oaks - a special attraction for young and old participants.

Almost all participants took part in the various tourist routes. In the second festival day the guests visited the Village of Bulgari, the village of the fire dance tradition, the ethnographic collection of grandmother Mara and went on the tourist route through the area Gospogyova dirya - the kingdom of Rhododendron ponticum, specially flourished days before the festival. Aside from the trails the participants had a rare chance to enjoy several types of wild orchids, the flowers of which could be seen only for a week once a year. The trail ended in the protected area St. Iliya with 14 Strandja old oaks, near the Village of Kosti.

Festival was organized by the Strandja Nature Park Directorate and the Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation as part of the project: Cooperation for biodiversity conservation and sustainable local development in Strandja implemented with the financial support from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area.