Bulgaria's Rose Festival
The Kazanluk Rose Festival is a colorful and fragrant celebration of the valley's 300-year-old annual rose harvest. The special oil-rich Bulgarian variety of rosa damascena is said to be descended from roses brought from Persia by the Crusaders and introduced by Ottoman traders to the perfect conditions of the Valley of Roses.
A fascinating combination of commerce (it takes 30 roses to make one drop of precious rose oil), tradition (the ritual picking of the blossoms begins at 4AM, and later a costume parade winds through town), art (the huge and dramatic hand-crafted masks of the kukeri, who march in the parade, are sometimes incredible examples of folk art) and modern showmanship (the crowning of the teen-age Rose Queen is reminiscent of beauty pageants everywhere).
MIR Corporation invites travelers to experience the Rose Festival on a small group tour, or create your own tour with our private custom travel option:
Small Group Tours
Custom & Private Travel
Custom & Private Journeys
to Bulgaria's Rose Festival
Our "Destination by Design"
services go beyond fixed itineraries and set dates to offer you the
flexibility of
custom travel for any size group - from solo travelers to
couples, from families to large delegations. |
Some images on this page courtesy Alexander Tours
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