First edition of Kite Festival Shabla - September 2011
05.10.2011
The first edition of Kite Festival Shabla, dedicated to the Red-breasted Goose conservation issue, is already a fact. On 23 and 24 September 2011 the wide open grasslands near the oldest lighthouse on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, that of the town of Shabla, became the setting of a unique and very colorful feast. Dozens of kites floated in the sky above the seacoast, for quite a lot of the visitors this being the first opportunity to try to make a kite and fly it themselves.
During the two festival days children painted, sculptured and made kites and birds of natural materials in the five workshops that were organized, while their mates from different dance and theatre formations were entertaining the public with their talents. Over 250 participants of 21 artistic troops from Varna, Dobrich, Kavarna, Shabla and the region performed during the second festival day.
The old rusty gas tanks, left in the region in the past, have a new appearance now, which will remind about the event long after its end. Inspired by the cause of conservation of the emblematic Red-breasted Goose, 20 street artists from all over the country painted the tanks expressing their vision “From a bird’s perspective”. A lot of music and visual effects marked the evenings at the unique spot of the fest – the seacoast. In the second evening the musicians of the popular Varna ethno-jazz formation La Migra gave a live performance there.
At the official opening of the festival in the Green Center of Shabla the explosions of two accompanying photo competitions were opened – the international “The Wild” and “Photo Vacation 2011”. They were organized jointly with the Bulgarian Photo Academy and the Photosynthesis stores. 58 photographers from 21 countries participated in “The Wild”, with a total of submitted photos over 450. The exposition of the awarded and commended works will stay at the Green Center until the end of October, after which it will be shown in Varna, Sofia and Russe.
According to initial data, the fest was attended by more than 1500 people from Varna, Dobrich, the region and the whole country. We believe that this is a promising beginning of a wonderful tradition, which is to become more and more popular, along with the symbol of the fest – the Red-breasted Goose. The event and its preparation were widely covered in over 70 publications and emissions in regional and national printed and electronic media, including The Bulgarian National Television, the national BTV, the Bulgarian National Radio, some of the most credited daily newspapers, like Standard News, Dnevnik (Diary) and many others. This gives us the grounds to believe that the main message of the fest – the conservation of the endangered Red-breasted Goose – has been properly delivered and understood.
After the fabulous success of this first edition, we, the BSPB team of the Safe Ground for Redbreasts project, believe that Kite Festival Shabla will become an eagerly expected annual event and we hope that we will manage to include it in the international agenda of kite festivals for next year.
The first edition of Kite Festival Shabla, dedicated to the Red-breasted Goose conservation issue, is already a fact. On 23 and 24 September 2011 the wide open grasslands near the oldest lighthouse on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, that of the town of Shabla, became the setting of a unique and very colorful feast. Dozens of kites floated in the sky above the seacoast, for quite a lot of the visitors this being the first opportunity to try to make a kite and fly it themselves.
During the two festival days children painted, sculptured and made kites and birds of natural materials in the five workshops that were organized, while their mates from different dance and theatre formations were entertaining the public with their talents. Over 250 participants of 21 artistic troops from Varna, Dobrich, Kavarna, Shabla and the region performed during the second festival day.
The old rusty gas tanks, left in the region in the past, have a new appearance now, which will remind about the event long after its end. Inspired by the cause of conservation of the emblematic Red-breasted Goose, 20 street artists from all over the country painted the tanks expressing their vision “From a bird’s perspective”. A lot of music and visual effects marked the evenings at the unique spot of the fest – the seacoast. In the second evening the musicians of the popular Varna ethno-jazz formation La Migra gave a live performance there.
At the official opening of the festival in the Green Center of Shabla the explosions of two accompanying photo competitions were opened – the international “The Wild” and “Photo Vacation 2011”. They were organized jointly with the Bulgarian Photo Academy and the Photosynthesis stores. 58 photographers from 21 countries participated in “The Wild”, with a total of submitted photos over 450. The exposition of the awarded and commended works will stay at the Green Center until the end of October, after which it will be shown in Varna, Sofia and Russe.
According to initial data, the fest was attended by more than 1500 people from Varna, Dobrich, the region and the whole country. We believe that this is a promising beginning of a wonderful tradition, which is to become more and more popular, along with the symbol of the fest – the Red-breasted Goose. The event and its preparation were widely covered in over 70 publications and emissions in regional and national printed and electronic media, including The Bulgarian National Television, the national BTV, the Bulgarian National Radio, some of the most credited daily newspapers, like Standard News, Dnevnik (Diary) and many others. This gives us the grounds to believe that the main message of the fest – the conservation of the endangered Red-breasted Goose – has been properly delivered and understood.
After the fabulous success of this first edition, we, the BSPB team of the Safe Ground for Redbreasts project, believe that Kite Festival Shabla will become an eagerly expected annual event and we hope that we will manage to include it in the international agenda of kite festivals for next year.
