The tourism could be a strong driving force for the long-term development of the Municipality of Sapareva banya. The variety of rich folklore and traditions, history, nature, crafts and spirit within the region could be used as an asset for the tourism development. Among the main problems in this direction has been the passive attitude and lack of motivation on behalf of the local population to work for the achievement of this goal. The link between the generations is somehow broken. There are many lonely old people, living in the municipality, with no active social life. At the same time this generation brings and preserves the old traditions and culture, which could not be forgotten. On the other hand, a great part of the young people in the municipality is not familiar with the rich folklore and traditions of their birthplace and their free time has not been spent in the most meaningful manner.
The project team initiated an informal survey among the young people from the municipality, trying to identify the most interesting forms and themes for their leisure time. After numerous conversations with the pupils from the local schools, the results came to show that the youngsters are interested to learn more about the cultural and historical traditions of Sapareva banya. Several interest groups and workshops have been formed with the participation of pupils from II VIII grade. Each group or workshop had about 7 10 children participating in the various activities and learning classes for a period of 4 months. The following groups were formed: Local traditions , Local cuisine , Crafts and Local folklore . The workshops were led by local old people, who were proven masters in the relevant field and had shown their talent in several generations. After the end of the workshops, the products, knowledge and skills obtained during the long-term training were demonstrated during the final project event the local traditions` exhibition.
On the territory of the Municipality of Sapareva banya there is no museum, which could collect and present the rich traditions and spirit of the region. Therefore, another task within the project implementation has been the organisation of the first ethnographic collection, titled The Memory of Sapareva banya . In many of the local houses people have kept different objects, clothes, furniture, pictures, who speak about the way of life of the grandparents of Sapareva banya. Several people from the women s club initiated a public campaign for gathering old and unique objects and such with great historical and cultural value. The Historical Museum in Kyustendil provided expert support to the efforts of the project, so that the collection is arranged according to the contemporary museum requirements. A large hall, situated within a public building in the centre of the town, has been fully renovated and reconstructed; new stands and shelves were placed into the exhibition hall. Many local people reacted to the public campaign and in the end the ethnographic collection turned into an unique, rich and interesting event, bridging the strong traditions of the region with the present life. The official opening of the ethnographic collection was organised on the May 27 2006. All the people who contributed with various traditional clothes, objects, pictures, labour tools and furniture of their grand-grand-parents, were awarded a special certificate of contribution.
The main project idea was to preserve and transfer to the young generation the local culture and traditions and ensure continuity among the generations; create better conditions for active social life of the elderly; to bring a new meaning of the leisure time activities for the children, while at the same time encouraging them to take part in various public events and the local cultural life.
The project activities provoked a great interest among the local community and were covered regularly within the local and regional newspapers, TV stations and radios. The project initiative has been implemented in close partnership between the municipality, the school managements, the municipal social care service and many citizens from the community.
- The project managed to attract and provoke the public interest towards a common initiative related to the preservation and bringing into life the specific cultural and historical traditions of Sapareva banya. The first for the region ethnographic collection has been created.
- More than 40 children took part in the interest groups activities, led by old people and working in the areas of learning how to cook various traditional dishes; mastering folklore dances and songs; creating beautiful wood frames, carved in a special way; bringing into life old folklore traditions and culture, old people and children learning together.
- The final project event the Local Traditions Exhibition provoked a great interest and will become an annual event.
Contacts:
Radka Serafimova
Municipality of Sapareva banya
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