Bulgaria’s oldest jazz festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in Bansko from August 8 to 13, drawing jazz performers and enthusiasts from all over the globe to an open-air stage in the Pirin Mountain resort town. The Bansko International Jazz Festival, which spans nearly a whole week each August, has grown to become one of the biggest and most prestigious musical events in Bulgaria. It aims to popularise jazz while promoting international exchange.
This year, musicians from 15 countries and three continents played to an audience of thousands in Bansko’s central Nikola Vaptsarov Square as vendors manned tables piled high with jazz CDs and colorful t-shirts commemorating the festival’s 10th year.
The music began with the Big Band of Bulgarian National Radio, with special guest singer Denise Jannah from the Netherlands. In addition, acts from Italy, America and Spain took the stage during the festival, along with Nato’s big band Shape International and Bulgarian jazz legend Milcho Leviev.
During the six nights of the festival, musicians also performed at clubs in Bansko, and entertained at after-parties, barbeques and “jazz coffeehouses”. One such event was the performance by jazz singer Kamelia Todorova, which The Sofia Echo helped sponsor.
Attendees were not the only ones to benefit from the diverse programme of performers, however. The event also provided an opportunity for performers from different backgrounds to collaborate; musicians came together in the evenings to improvise, share stories and swap techniques at jam sessions throughout the town.
The festival was the inspired idea of Dr Emil Iliev, a Bulgarian dermatologist with a passion for jazz and Bansko’s cultural development.
Over the course of 10 years, the town has been transformed into an international capital of jazz music. In 2002, Iliev created the foundation Bansko 21 Century with the aim of promoting international cultural tourism in Bansko, and supporting young musicians.
Iliev reflected on this year’s event, saying: “It was a good festival, I think. So many people, so many countries. I left with a very positive impression.”
Since its first year, the festival has hosted prominent Bulgarian bands and musicians like the Dimitar Lyolev Quartet and the Big Band Blagoevgrad. The list of international musicians includes America’s Sydney Ellis quartet and Britain’s Scott Hamilton, Holland’s Eric Vloeimans, the French Raul Paz band, Germany’s Axel Zwingenberger, Jo Bohnsack and Thomas Gerdiken, Switzerland’s Silvan Zingg and Belgiums’ Philip Catherine Quartet.
Iliev emphasised the importance of the festival’s international character, saying that he considered jazz a way to promote Bansko, a town with 10 127 permanent residents, as “one of the most popular resorts in the world”.
Much to the delight of festival organisers, through the “music of the free people”, many international visitors have been exposed to Bansko’s unique charms – to its traditional wooden architecture, Bulgarian cuisine and excellent wine. The town, which has long been a favourite summer destination for Sofians, also offers easy access to hiking trails in the mountains of the Pirin National Park. In the winter, Bansko’s ski runs draw visitors from the UK, the Netherlands, Russia and the United States.
However, despite the wide-reaching popularity of Bansko as a tourist destination and jazz venue, an increase in international publicity ranks among the festival’s biggest goals for the coming year. Up until this point, press accreditation has been limited to Bulgarian media. At the moment, Bulgarian National Television and Bulgarian National Radio are the primary media partners of the festival, and a press centre accredits 50 journalists from leading Bulgarian media. Three television stations advertise the event in Bulgaria, and advertisements are broadcast on several Bulgarian radio stations. Accreditations for the 2008 festival will no longer be limited to the Bulgarian media, and an effort will be made to keep international journalists abreast of festival events and updates to the programme.
Festival organisers also plan to expand next year’s festival with a change of venue. Barring any complications, the main stage will be moved from the central square, which accommodates 10 000, to a stadium with a capacity of 15 000.
Though it has been only about one week since the last performers took their final bows in Bansko, organisers have already started to invite next year’s guests. The plan for 2008? A “mega-concert”, featuring some of the most famous names in jazz. Natalie Cole currently tops of the list of invited guests.
“In Bansko, we are already arranging the programme, the places...even the lights,” said Iliev, “We’re not doing this for ourselves. We are doing it for the people.”
