For the third consecutive year Gabrovo Youth Centre, Gabrovo Municipality, and the Collective Foundation joined forces to organize the beloved youth festival “Rivers of the City – Gabrovo – Youth Stories Against the Current”.
The event took place from 23 to 25 August in the bed of the Yantra River. The festival included a rich program of creative workshops, concerts, cinema, a bazaar, and some serious topics such as youth participation and the European Union, a lecture on creativity and also sharing and discussing with young people the plans of the Municipality for investment in riverside spaces.
Once again this year the festival program offered a rich palette of experiences with youth spirit and river freshness.
Graffiti artists worked on their new artwork on the river retaining wall, which has now become a gallery with graffiti from all editions of the festival. The cyanotype workshop also offered an interesting experience. Cyanotype is an experimental photographic technique increasingly common in contemporary art. An emulsion containing iron salts is applied to textiles. A negative or an object is placed on the soaked substrate, exposed to the sun for a few minutes and after washing with water, a blueprint is obtained. And the prints became sails on boats.
The “Drawing and Buzonade” workshop – Buzonade is elderberry lemonade! – was aimed at all young people who think they can’t draw, to challenge them and prove to them that anyone can create a masterpiece.
Shadow theatre workshop showcased body and light movement. The role of the participants was to explore and express different emotions as their silhouettes became living images that tell stories. It is a space where shadows become alive and lead us on a journey through the world of feelings.
On the last night, there was time for short films from Bulgaria, Germany, and Spain. 6 films about love, beauty, and travel. The lecture on creativity and the circus art workshop invited all fearless youngsters who want to try something new.
There was an art bazaar on the meadow by the river and craft beer, ice cream, and other goodies to make the day special. The young people also presented a braid workshop and henna paintings.
During the three days of the festival, the evenings were dedicated to youth concerts featuring original music in pop, rock, and rnb, with original interpretations and mouth trumpet solos, from ethnic to pop sounds, a balanced mix of rock, ska, grunge, punk, hip hop, reggae.
Participants joined forces to fight for cleaner and more social rivers that transform riverside spaces into vibrant places for art, recreation, and culture.
The volunteer initiative to clean up the Yantra River aimed to protect the environment, biodiversity, and water, and to create a cleaner and healthier urban environment.
