Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

UNESCO recognizes traditional singing from Bulgaria's Dolen and Satovcha as world cultural heritage

Photo: mfa.bg

The so-called "visoko" multipart folk singing from the villages of Dolen and Satovcha, Blagoevgrad region, South-western Bulgaria, has been listed by UNESCO as part of the world's intangible cultural heritage. The decision was made at the 16th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The application was presented by the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The so-called "visoko" (high) singing from the region is a unique four-part singing which received international recognition for the first time in 1988, when the singers from the villages of Dolen and Satovcha were awarded the Herder Prize.

For the 6th time, UNESCO puts Bulgaria on this list, which already includes the Bistritsa grandmothers, firedancing (nestinari), Chiprovtsi carpet weaving, the Surva holiday from Pernik region and the martenitsas which it presented together with Romania, Moldova and North Macedonia.

The film about the presentation to UNESCO is in Bulgarian with English subtitles:




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Three days, six stages and over 7,000 participants – Koprivshtitsa brings together the best amateurs from Bulgaria

The heart and rhythm of the Bulgarian spirit – with these words we can metaphorically define the National Festival of Bulgarian Folklore. Traditionally, since the distant 1965, the event has been organized once every five years on the first weekend of..

published on 8/6/25 12:14 PM

A film tells the story of Munich-based Bulgarian ensemble ‘Lazarka’

The number of Bulgarian folk dance ensembles abroad is growing and, alongside Bulgarian schools, they are among the key centres that unite compatriots overseas and preserve their connection to their roots. Recently, some of these dance troupes returned..

published on 8/5/25 9:45 PM

The 'White Roses' Bulgarian folk choir from Pescara, Italy, is performing in Bulgaria for the first time

A Bulgarian amateur folk choir based in Italy has returned to Bulgaria for its debut performance before a home audience.  Most members of the choir, named Beli Rozi (White Roses) , have lived in the southern Italian city of Pescara for over a decade...

published on 8/2/25 11:45 AM