Slaveevi Noshti or "Nightingale

Nightingale

The Nightingale , also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae...

s' Nights" in English, is an annual folk music and dance festival held in Aitos, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

. Each year the festival attracts individual performers, dance ensembles and folk choirs from all corners of Bulgaria. The mission of the festival is to preserve and popularize Bulgarian folk music, dance and culture as envisioned by the great Bulgarian composer and musician Filip Kutev

Filip Kutev

Filip Kutev was a Bulgarian composer and founder of the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir. He is widely considered "the father of Bulgarian choir and folk music". Kutev also created and conducted the Bulgarian National Ensemble & Choir in 1951.He was born in Aitos, Burgas Province....

, also native of Aitos. The festival was first held in 1968 and since then it has grown into a national competition.

The competition part of the festival has two dimensions: individual and group. All performers are divided into three age groups: below 14 years of age; 14–18 years of age; and over 18 years of age. The competition segments are as follows:

1. Traditional folk signing performance (individual/group)
2. Traditional music instrument performance (individual/group)
3. Traditional dance performance (individual/group)