Surrey Greek Food Festival

June 8, 2024

This year, Zornitza Ensemble was glad to be a part of the Surrey Greek Food Festival on June 8, 2024. Hosted at the Staints Constantine and Helens Greek Orthodox Church, the festival is a celebration of Greek culture and food, as well an appreciation of many multicultural performances. Zornitza was honored to be invited and open the dance performances for the first weekend of the event, joined by other Bulgarian performers – Folk Misteria, Kitka and our Kuker performer joined us with their own dance performances, and the musical Duo Balkanaria played beautiful Bulgarian folklore melodies.

Zornitza had the opportunity to present a diverse set of dances as well as the beautiful costumes that originate from the regions of those dances. As guests of the festival started arriving and taking their place in the audience, enjoying the authentic Greek cuisine, the ensemble started the program with their Macedonian Spirit dances featuring the colorful red and white costumes that are characteristic for the Pirin and Macedonian regions of Bulgaria. With a change into their newest blue and red costumes, the ensemble presented a Shopian dance, Kopanica, which had not been performed at any other events this year. With their black and gold outfits, Zornitza finished off their choreography with their Cheerful Shopian Dance Medley, which consists of three upbeat dances, that have been a staple of the ensemble’s program since its inception.

The performance program concluded with everyone joining in for the famous Greek dance Sirtaki, which was choreographed for and popularized by the movie “Zorba the Greek”. Sirtaki is an upbeat instrumental with a gradually increasing rhythm that is enjoyed all around the Balkans. Zornitza Ensemble is grateful for the opportunity to perform at the Surrey Greek Food Festival and hopes to join the event again next year!

Autor: Evgenia Momchilova