Music in Gela - Blogabond

Today we got to put those Bulgarian traditional dances into practice! We got up very early and traveled a few hours to this village called Gela in the mountains, where there was a massive traditional music festival. It was absolutely amazing!

The traditional Bulgarian music has bagpipers as the main instrument, something quite foreign to me and my American colleagues. We really enjoyed listening to the music, and the food everywhere was absolutely amazing. They had tons of kebabs and meatballs (typical Rhodopi dishes) that were wonderfully cooked, fresh corn on the cob, cucumber and tomato salads, french fries, fresh mini donuts with different sweet toppings, a billion different types of ice cream, cotton candy spun right in front of you that is two or three times the size of your head, and many different delicious assortments of popcorn and candies. By the time we walked back down the mountain to leave, we really needed the exercise to work off all the eating we did.

There were two really amazing moments of the day, though. I was walking with my friend Ivo around the festival and he saw a guy sitting on a blanket with two drums. Ivo is very outgoing and loves music, so we walked over and had a seat and then they played music together on the drums. Another guy came over and took one of the drums, and then Ivo played his flute with them. Some of the other people nearby on their blankets joined in, and there was this huge jam session that I got to be right in the middle of! Then we made friends with the people around us, and we all drank together and talked for quite a while. It was amazing to be able to just walk right into a different environment without speaking most of the people's language and be accepted and have such a great time.

The other absolutely awe-inspiring moment came about 30 minutes before we had to leave the festival. A new band had just begun to play, and we started to dance one of the traditional dances (gora I think is how its spelled, but with an 'h' sound). Immediately a huge amount of people ran into the middle of the field and joined in, and within 15 minutes there were hundreds of people dancing around in zig-zags and circles, all doing the same dance. I took amazing pictures, but I still have no camera cord. They will come once I arrive in London... promise!

Overall, it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had in Bulgaria. What a beautiful place this is...

written by

NarSisyphus on August 3, 2008 from Gela, Bulgaria

from the travel blog: Bulgaria, London, and everywhere In-between

Send a Compliment

comment on this...