A festival dedicated to music and poetry featuring artists from Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, USA and Romania

Venue: National Palace of Culture, Studio 5

Date: 30.09 & 01.10 2017

Introduction:

The Singer songwriters’ festivals have a long tradition in Europe and America. They began in the 60’s. with leading performers such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, James Taylor, Jonnie Mitchell and many others. They appear in front of a large crowd, accompanied just by an acoustic guitar. The main focus is on the songs, on the strong lyrics and melodies. The Singer songwriters’ festivals are very popular in the European and American cities and attract a large audience. Artists perform also in music clubs and present their new material. Bulgaria has also some traditions in this genre. They date back to the 70’s when singer songwriters performed their critical songs in public. They were raising their voice against the communist regime and inspired a whole generation. Such festivals took place in Sofia, Burgas, Lovech, Razgrad and Harmanli. They are often organized by a group of enthusiastic and motivated people who would like to add something to the cultural life of their towns.

Now is the time that Bulgaria needs a professionally organized festival, dedicated to poetry and music, with international potential. Lilly Drumeva-O’Reilly and a team of well-known poets with guitars are working on the organization of the first international singer songwriter festival in Sofia, which will take place on 30^th of September and 1^st of October 2017.

Program:

The festival will have a competition part where selected singer songwriters from Bulgaria, USA, Serbia, Rumania and Croatia will perform two songs each. A jury of celebrities from TV, radio and music will place their vote and at the end of the evening the winner will be announced. After the competition part, there will be short concerts of two famous Bulgarian acoustic bands : “Tochka Bg” and “Lilly of the West”.

‘Tochka Bg’ is an acoustic project for original songs, derived from the busy city life. The band was formed in 2011 by Zornitsa Popova , Todor Yankulov, Krasimir Parvanov and Plamen Sivov. They have released four albums to this date. The name of the group was inspired by one of their most famous songs. ‘Tochka Bg’ has played numerous concerts in Bulgaria and in Europe enjoying a big following.  ( www.tochkabg.com )

‘Lilly of the West’ is one of Europe’s most successful country and bluegrass bands. It was formed in 1996 in Sofia. Tours and concerts followed in Bulgaria, Europe and the US, where the musicians won several prestigious awards. The band has released 9 albums to this date. They write also original music which they mix with elements of the Bulgarian folklore. ( www.lillydrumeva.net )

For contact:: lilidrumeva@gmail.com, 00 359 888 660 990