History Regulations Application Form       bg | en

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

Get Adobe Flash player

 

“KUKOVE”
V²²² International Festival of Mummers and Masquerade games
Rakovski 2010

THE TOWN

Rakovski is the administrative center of the municipality of Rakovski with a population of 16,000 people.  The town is situated 25 kilometers from the City of Plovdiv, which can be reached quickly and easily.  The lands of the town were settled by Catholics, immigrants from the south-east region of Byzantium, followers of one of the most significant heresies of the Middle Ages.
Rakovski is famous for its three Catholic churches in each residential district of the town, which were at one time three separate villages.

Today, Rakovski is continually becoming more famous due to its industrial zone, the first in Bulgaria which offers such excellent circumstances for investors.

Highway Trakia and Route 8: East-West /Sofia – Plovdiv – Burgas/ both pass through the territory of the municipality, connecting the Black Sea to Western Europe.  The other important roadway which passes through the municipality is Plovdiv – Rakovski – Brezovo – Shipka, which completes the connection to Northern Bulgaria.


THE FESTIVAL

The International Festival of Kukeri and Masquerade Games “Kukove – Rakovski” is the second-largest such festival after The International Festival of Masquerade Games “Surva” in the City of Pernik.

It is organized annually on the Friday and Saturday before the Easter Shrovetide and is one of the most colorful events in the municipality.  The tradition is connected with “hamkaneto na halvata”.

The festival originated spontaneously from a group of young people who were members of the dance troupe at Community Center "St.st. Cyril and Methodius", Town of Rakovski.  In 1995 they organized a kukeri show in the center of the town, following in the footsteps of their forefathers who would go around amongst the homes of the town.  From 2000 the festival has been financed by the municipality as they organized the first regional festival of masquerade games.

From 2002, after the financing of the Community Center "St.st. Cyril and Methodius", Rakovski project from the Ministry of Culture, the concept of the town’s festival becoming national was introduced, and since 2003 it has had the statute of International Festival.  Since 2000 after the participation of the kukeri troupe from Community Center "St.st. Cyril and Methodius", Rakovski in The International Festival of Masquerade Games in the Town of Pernik, the municipality is a member of the Federation of European Carnival Cities.  Traditionally, participants in the festival include around 2,000 people from every region of Bulgaria and guests from Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia, Ireland, and Greece.


Rakovski 4150, District of Plovdiv
1 Bulgaria Sqr.
Municipality administration
tel: + 359 3151 2260
fax: + 359 3151 2361
e-mail: oa-rakovski@rakovski.bg
Rakovski 4150, District of Plovdiv
23 Moskva Str.
Community Center “St.st Cyril and Methodius
tel/fax: + 359 3151 2141
e-mail: kukove.rakovski@gmail.com