Grandma’s Chest – Journey in the Land of Customs of Bourgas and Edirne

The overall goal of the project is to strengthen the cross-border capacity for cooperation in the field of sustainable tourism based on the common cultural heritage. The specific objectives are to strengthen sustainable tourism in the cross-border region by capitalizing on the common cultural heritage and increasing cross-border interaction between generations through the restoration of customs and traditions.
Project activities include: research of the cultural heritage in the region and related customs and traditions; developing scenarios for theatrical reconstructions of customs and traditions for the children participating in the project; presentation of the reconstructions in Edirne and Burgas; organizing a children's folklore festival to present the customs and traditions of the region to the general public.
As a result of the project implementation, the tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the cross-border region will be studied; developed a tool for promoting the intangible cultural heritage through theatrical reconstructions; increased cross-border cooperation for sustainable tourism through knowledge of the intangible cultural heritage of the region. The participants in the project - children aged 4-7 years will acquire knowledge about the customs, culture and traditions of their own and neighboring, on the other side of the border, region through the method of "learning by doing" in theatrical reconstructions of customs and traditions from the cross-border region Burgas - Edirne.

Status of the project: completed

The project "Grandma's Chest - A Journey to the Country of the Customs of Burgas and Edirne" managed to achieve its goals and develop cross-border tourism potential on both sides of the border.

Experts studied the region's cultural heritage and related customs and traditions, and a study booklet was published, which is in the public eye. Scenarios for theatrical reconstructions of customs and traditions were developed by external experts, in which the children from the target group played customs and traditions within Activities 3 and 4. During the "Journey in the customs and traditions of Burgas and Edirne," the children visited the partner country and cultural monuments, where they played reconstructions of customs and traditions according to the scenarios of Activity 2. As a final activity of the project in Bulgaria was held Children's Folklore Festival, which took place in Burgas. The host was Kindergarten Valshebstvo - the customs and traditions of the region were presented to the general public. During all the activities we had many difficulties related to the pandemic situation on both sides of the region, but we managed to cope with the challenge and bring a lot of new knowledge and smiles in children's eyes.