Details About the Rose Festival in Bulgaria

Bulgarian Rose oil has fascinated women for centuries, for its powerful qualities for maintaining human skin freshness. In Bulgaria the valley of the roses is the hub for rose growing. The harvesting is carried out from mid May and lasts for about three weeks. Then is the right time for capturing the fragrance of roses, picking rose petals.

This is a traditional women’s task, as it needs tender care and nimble fingers. Women go out very early, starting work at 4 am when the scent of the Bulgarian roses is at its highest, and pick blossoms and lay them in baskets until 10 am. The woman who picks the first flower puts it behind her ear as a decoration. It is important to pick the Bulgarian roses early, as when they are picked in the afternoon, they lose about half of their rose oil content.

When the period for picking roses in Bulgaria comes, the Rose Valley welcomes a festive event inaugurating it, the Bulgarian Rose Festival. This traditional event is held in the town of Karlovo, and also in Kazanlak, another town in the area of the rose valley. People from all over the country and foreigners alike throng in the valley for the rose festivals. Not only do people in both towns celebrate the qualities of oil bearing roses in Bulgaria. They also choose a young girl who becomes the Rose Queen and represents in the best way the freshness and beauty of rosa damascena.

The Rose Festival in Karlovo

Karlovo is a town with a long history of Bulgarian rose oil production. The first weekend of June (5th, 6th and 7th) is the period of traditional gathering, people celebrate the Rose Festival on the field which abounds in roses. The town itself is replete with rose wreaths, streets, windows, balconies are colorfully adorned with roses galore. Smiling girls and boys walk in the streets, baskets in hand filled with roses that they hand to passers-by, inviting them to join the celebrations. Nowadays the Rose Festival in Karlovo welcomes people with a plethora of folklore songs and dancing. The Rose Queen has been elected since 1990.

The rose fields are increasingly expanded, and new rose sorts are created providing higher yields. The Bulgarian rose oil is exported for cosmetics companies. In Karlovo, it is used to produce a number of cosmetic products at the “Bulgarian Rose” company.

The festival of Roses is one of the most important feasts in the municipality of Karlovo, dedicated to the beauty, the flowers the spring and the fragrance of the invaluable Roses of Karlovo. The tradition to celebrate originates in the beginning of the 20th century and intermittently has been goiung up to our days.

On the feast day the town is filled with beauty, high spirits, dancers, songs and the lovely aroma of her Majesty the Rose. The festival starts with the ritual of rose picking in the rose fields outside Karlovo. It is an authentic dance coming from the past with the participation of amateur folklore performers from Karlovo municipality. Lovely melodies of bagpipers’ orchestra are heard and people been welcomed with ritual bread and bunch of roses and wild geranium. The kukeri dances create liveliness in the alley where the pavilions with local crafts and rose products are presented.

The Rose Festival in Kazanlak

Kazanlak is another important venue during the Rose Festival. Not only roses, but also flowers in general, and also fertility, are celebrated. The festival in Kazanlak is an event lasting for weeks, until June 5, the day of the city. The initial stage is the choice of the Rose queen. Then a palette of events follows, often comprising exhibitions with photos etc. showing the livelihood of the people in the Rose Valley and the significance of essential rose oil production for the local people.

The Rose Museum in Kazanlak

During our tours to the rose valley and the Rose festival in Bulgaria we can visit the Rose museum in Kazanlak. It has rich collection of objects, pictures and documents that reveal the history of Bulgarian oleaginous – roses growing. The exhibits are located in 14 niches. There you can see the rich tradition of Bulgarian rose production and export of rose oil, also instruments use for processing rose gardens, containers for storage of rose oil and rose water.

In the middle of the museum space you will be able to reach primitive and authentic rose distilleries. During the months then the roses are blooming (May and June) you will have the opportunity to enjoy the rose water production and become a part of the process.

Join me and discover the most Bulgarian holiday! Just send me a message, and let me know what other things you want to see and do… I’ll take it from there, and together we’ll create for you the holiday of a lifetime.