Preparation started for the 8th edition of "Opera on the Peaks - Belogradchik Rocks" festival

Preparations for the eighth edition of the summer festival "Opera on the Peaks - Belogradchik Rocks" have started. The stage and the grandstand for the audience are being installed In the first courtyard of the fortress, the mayor of Belogradchik, Boris Nikolov, told BTA on July 23. The festival brings together hundreds of opera and ballet lovers from all over the world every year, he added.

The festival will open its season on August 4 with the premiere of Giacomo Puccini's opera “Madame Butterfly”. The opera can also be seen on August 5 and 6.

The opera “Madame Butterfly” was created in partnership by the Sofia Opera and Ballet and artists from South Korea. The audience in Belogradchik will be the first to see the result of this collaboration, said acad. Plamen Kartalov, director of the Sofia Opera and Ballet.

The programme of Opera on the Peaks will include "Carmina Burana" ballet production, with performances on 11 and 13 August and the classical ballet "Don Quixote" on 12 August.

"Opera on the Peaks - Belogradchik Rocks" is an innovative idea of the Head of Sofia Opera and Ballet, Plamen Kartalov. The stage performances among the beauty of the Belogradchik Rocks give the audience the opportunity to experience the artistic works in a different way. Many guests come to enjoy opera and ballet art under the open sky.

"This is the eighth time that festival evenings have been organised in this heavenly place in Bulgaria, where opera, artists, nature and the audience meet," said Maestro Kartalov. "We are continuing the tradition," he is adamant.

The opera festival is organized by the Sofia Opera and Ballet in prtnership with the Municipality of Belogradchik.

Source: BTA

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The rocks of Belogradchik are rock sculptures, situated on the western slopes of the Balkan Mountains range (Stara Planina) near the town of Belogradchik in northwestern Bulgaria.

They contain groups of rock figures resembling people, animals, fortresses, pyramids or different objects with imposing sizes - from a few meters to several dozens of meters.

The rocks vary in colour from primarily red to yellow; some of the rocks reach up to 200 m in height.

The fortress is one of the best-preserved strongholds in Bulgaria and a cultural monument of national importance.

The initial fortress was constructed during the time when the region was part of the Roman Empire. The rock formations in the area served as a natural protection.

The Belogradchik Rocks have been declared a Natural Landmark by the Bulgarian government and are a major tourist attraction in the region.

The Belogradchik Rocks are included in the list of the 100 national touristic sites.