International Art Festival "Hear Devin"

The festival aims to popularize the music and dance traditions, typical crafts and customs in the town of Devin and the Rhodope Mountains. The basics are traditional musical instruments typical of this region – the bagpipe and the kaval. The festival also allows contemporary artists from different genres of art to be inspired by tradition to create modern models. On stage, musicians, dancers, artists, illusionists, actors are performing.
The bagpipe as a traditional Bulgarian instrument is gaining popularity. More and more people are interested in the instrument and learn to play on it. In Bulgaria there are three types of bagpipes – cabbage, jujra and macedonian. The Rhodope folk region is characterized by the bagpipe.
Devin has a well-preserved musical tradition. At the Rhodopa Prosveta Chitalishte since 1923 is functioning bagpipe music band. The formation is a participant and winner of many prestigious music festivals and competitions in Bulgaria and around the world.
The bagpipe is an ancient instrument. Thracians, Slavs, Bulgarians – all of them were skilled players. But it is well known not only on the Balkans – there is at least one type of bagpipe in every European country. It is also known in the Middle East and India.
The Kaval is also a traditional Bulgarian folk instrument, very characteristic of the Rhodope folklore area. Several types of kavals of different lengths have been noted in Bulgaria. The Kaval is a folk wooden brass instrument that has been known in our lands for hundreds of years. The Bulgarian name derives from the Turkish word “kaval”, which means a long, hollow wooden stick for inflating. It is difficult to find out when and where the kaval originated, because the historical data about its origin and its original appearance are scarce. It can be argued that his origin appeared long before the arrival of Asparuh Bulgarians on the Balkan Peninsula and that the present kaval is the result of many years of improvement. The prototype of the present kaval could be sought in the Egyptian, Syrian and later Greek instruments. The kaval is also well known in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo Albania, northern Greece, southern Romania, Armenia. The kaval is most commonly associated with the mountain shepherds of the Balkans and Anatolia, and also throughout other regions of the Yurukti nomads who inhabited Pindus, Shar Mountains, Pirin, Rhodopes – ie. the southern mountains of the Balkan Peninsula and the Tartar mountains of southern Turkey.
Unlike the bagpipe, however, the kaval is an increasingly rare musical instrument. There are still musicians in Devin, who master playing it.
The festival’s idea is through stage playing, contest and attraction events to strengthen the popularity of the bagpipe and to attract interest to the kaval as traditional Bulgarian instruments. Since the popularity of these musical instruments far exceeds Bulgaria, the festival is international. It features bagpipers and kaval players from all over the world who use the instruments in different musical styles. More and more innovative individual performers and formations include the bagpipe and the kaval such as rock, techno or other music styles. Thus, the “Hear Devin” festival becomes an attractive world music event without stylistic limitations.
On the festival stage and on the streets and squares of Devin will be given the opportunity for dancing to formations from all over Bulgaria and the world. Traditional and modern dances, based on the music heritage, will give the festival variety and diversity, so that the audience can take part in the dance performances.
The festival will allow local producers to exhibit and sell their goods. Traditional local crafts such as pottery, carving, embroidery, knitting, bells, etc. will be presented. Local artists will present and sell their own works.
The organizers wish all participants and the audience to be dressed in traditional Bulgarian costumes.
There will be held more festival attractions to enhance the interest of tourists and participants such as retro cars parade, rockers gathering, off-road in the Rhodopes, excursions to attractive mountain areas, delta-planes, balloon flights, observation of the star skies over the Rhodopes, culinary surprises and more. The nature near Devin and the healing mineral water also offer unique opportunities for an unforgettable experience.
The festival aims to bring diversity to the cultural calendar of Devin Municipality and the Rhodope Region, attracting well-known names from the Bulgarian and world music scene as well as tourists from all over the world outside the active tourist season. In this way the event will contribute to the overall popularization of Devin and the local traditions and customs in Bulgaria and around the world.