The Confucius Institute In Sofia Have Been Invited To Participate In the International Folklore Festival In Kostinbrod Municipality

On April 27th 2025, the Confucius Institute in Sofia have been invited to participate in the 15th International Folklore Festival held in the city of Kostinbrod, Bulgaria. CIS have hosted a Chinese culture workshop in the local cultural centre so as to demonstrate the excellent traditional culture in China to the local people. The workshop has attracted nearly two hundred people to participate in the Chinese learning and the Chinese culture experience activities. This is the first time that the culture of China has been introduced to the city.
The topic of the Chinese Culture Workshop has been ‘Learning Chinese On the Chinese Language Day’. The city mayor - Mr Trayko Mladenov, the deputy city mayor Mr Aleksandar Nenov, and Mrs Bistra Boyanova - the head of the Municipal Department For Education, Youth Policy, Sports, Culture And Social Activities, have visited the exhibition area to learn how to write Chinese characters. Numerous local primary and secondary school students have demonstrated their great enthusiasm for Chinese culture and have tried their hand at fun activities such as playing shuttlecock, drawing pandas, playing Go and writing Chinese characters, as well as learning simple Chinese greetings, which activities have created a cheerful atmosphere at the event.
On the stage performance area, students from the Confucius Classroom at the 18th Secondary School in Sofia under the Confucius Institute in Sofia have performed Chinese traditional costumes catwalk show, and a student from the Confucius Classroom of the 138th Secondary School in Sofia has sung the ‘As I Wish’ song, winning the applause of the audience.
The event has been part of a series of activities organised by the Confucius Institute in Sofia to celebrate the International Chinese Language Day 2025, and has showcased the unique charm of both the language and the culture of China to the local audience by carefully planned Chinese characters and cultural experiences, coupled with stage performances. The regional media Espressonews have reported that the cultural representatives of the Confucius Institute in Sofia have not only demonstrated traditional Chinese arts, but they have furthermore promoted the cultural exchanges, and have embodied the cultural diversity as well. Starting from the autumn semester of the current school year, the Confucius Institute in Sofia will provide Chinese language teaching within the school curriculum of the city's “Dr. Petar Beron” Secondary School.

The Confucius Institute in Sofia
Text: Huang Shihui
Photos: Biliana Isaeva
Editors: Prof. Chen Ying, Aksiniya Koleva, Chen Chen
English translation: Maya Kostadinova

Picture 1. The mayor of Kostinbrod (fourth from left) showing some Chinese teaching materials to local people

Picture 2. Learning to speak Chinese

Figure 3. The cultural display by the Confucius Institute in Sofia

Figure 4. Learning Chinese calligraphy

Figure 5. Demonstrating hand-written Chinese names

Picture 6. Chinese costume catwalk show performance

Picture 7. Singing Chinese songs

Picture 8. The mayor of Kostinbrod (first from left), the deputy mayor (first from right) with both directors of the Confucius Institute in Sofia.