Over 500 dancers, singers, artists, photographers, youth leaders and students from 15 Balkan and European countries gathered for a 16th year in a row in the Bulgarian town of Sandanski /Southeast Bulgaria/, where the Balkan Youth Fest /BYF/ took place once again. All young people had the chance to work, create and have fun together, thus making their way towards a United Europe. This festival is the only one on the Old Continent, organized and executed entirely by volunteers – they built up the stages, wrote the scripts of the events etc. Young journalists or students covered the media side of the festival. Enthusiasts, aged 16-30 from Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Poland, Turkey and Macedonia took part in the event under the Youth in Action Programme of the European Voluntary Service.

“2011 was pronounced to be a European Year of Volunteering for a first time last year, exactly within the frameworks of our festival with the performance of the so-called Dance of Volunteers,” CEO of BYF Emilia Marinova said and added:
“Last year we also welcomed European volunteers under the Youth in Action Programme – 24 young people from 8 European countries. This year we announced our first contest for recruiting volunteers. We were very surprised, as there were over 140 applicants from 40 locations all over Bulgaria. This year we also popularized volunteering in the streets of Sandanski as the participants introduced to young people the chance for traveling abroad, while working on a suitable project.”
Traditionally BYF starts with a so-called “drumming circle” and thus an atmosphere is created that unites the energy of the participants in a common rhythm. Concerts, contests, exhibitions are a tradition too.

“2012 will be an year for active aging and continuity between generations,” Emilia Marinova says further, adding that: 
“This year we accentuated on the second part of the message of the EC. We gave the chance to young performers and old pop and rock bands to show their talent together on one stage, for 5 days in a row, to exchange experience and contacts, even to become friends. Some of them created duos and joint performances. I’d like to mention the Next Time pop-rock band from Macedonia, Sample Rate from Ukraine, Psycho 44 from Brussels etc. At the same time we gave a chance to a great young pop-rock band from the Bulgarian town of Petrich and also to representatives of the Rock Academy in Dupnitsa. Thus we tried to meet youth with experience.”

The presentation of the wine tradition is one of the festival’s attractions:
“This is a project of our Spanish volunteer Jose,” Emilia Marinova goes on to say. “Being a winemaker, he had done a research that had proved that the region of Sandanski and Melnik was one of the few in Europe, where organic eco wine could be produced. His idea aimed at the popularization of the region. This is also a chance for development for the young people in the region. The tradition of grape trampling was presented in a very attractive manner. We organized a march of Dionysus with grape that we transported along the main street. Young couples trampled grape, while folk rhythms and dances accompanied the event. Cocktails with the organic product were made then with lemon and those were handed to the spectators.”

The biggest youth chain-dance in the Balkans is also a part of the festival. Traditionally the participants visit the Rozhen Monastery and the town of Melnik, where a Bulgarian chain-dance takes place for a 16th year in a row. Over 10,000 young people have taken part in it so far. The volunteers take pictures too, and later those participate in the All Different, but not Indifferent contest.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev
Photos: Balkan Youth Festival