Created in 2006, the festival invariably offers folk music lovers an intriguing programme. As part of their preparations, all participants have to learn at least one song from the repertoire of the famed trio. The festival includes also Bulgarian folk music workshops. By a tradition, the event is hosted by the town of Sandanski and towns and villages in its surroundings. For the first time this year there will be a concert in Sofia. The forum always takes place on the days just before and after Pentecost, which is a moveable feast. That is when a folklore fair takes place in Pirin, the village where the sisters were born - Lyubimka, Mitra and Neda Bisserov. As a trio, and later together with their children in the Bisserov Sisters Family, they have come to be known across all continents. They have taken part in dozens of international festivals where they have had the opportunity of listening to folk music from all parts of the globe. They know the most prominent performers of unique traditional music from all over the world. Some of them have already guest-performed at the songs of the Bisserov sisters festival. Others will do so for the first time this year. What do the guests expect from the forthcoming festival and which performers have been included – here is more from Lyubimka Bisserova:

“The festival opens on June 5 with a concert at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences concert hall in the heart of Sofia and admission is free. The audience will be able to hear three of the formations, among them I Musicalia, founded by the brothers Amerigo e Marcello Ciervo who have taken part in two of our festivals. This time they are coming with their new formation in which they sing and play together with their children. We have known Tenore Murales from Sardinia, Italy since 1993 when we took part in a festival together. Their singing is unique and is on the UNESCO Living Human Treasures list. Pekel from Holland will present ancient songs from the 16th - 17th century as well as modern arrangements of their own pieces. I am happy to say that the boys from Slavonic Tractor – a choir from Finland also stated their desire to take part for the third time. They enjoy Bulgarian folk music very much and even released a CD some years ago. Their repertoire features songs from other Slavic nations as well as Finnish folklore. On June 6 all formations will give a concert together in Sandanski and on the following day – in the town of Gotse Delcchev; on the morning of June 8th there will be a matinee in the village square in Pirin. This concert is our gift to the families, who traditionally have a family reunion at the Holy Trinity chapel. Our guests from abroad readily take part in the merrymaking.”

Other participants in the songs of the Bisserov sisters festival include the Doyna Baraganului dance ensemble from Lalomita, Romania, Bob Goff from Great Britain, who plays a traditional Australian instrument called didgeridoo and the Bisserov Sisters Family.

The audio to this file includes the following songs:
- Come on, let’s go, the Bisserov sisters;
- Elenka, little girl, the Bisserov sisters;
- The lad that came from afar, Lyubimka Bisserova