From Thursday to Sunday this week, an alternative and world music festival will transform the village of Dolen into the cultural hotspot of the Rhodope Mountains.

Music of Eastern European bands will go hand in hand with cinema, tours of Dolen, hot-air balloon rides, and some 24 exhibitions scattered throughout the village's narrow streets.

Turkish alternative musicians from Baba Zula, Hungarian folk duo The Moon and the Nightspirit, and a Greek folk rock band called Villagers of Ioannina City will play along with Isihia, a renowned Bulgarian band which combines Bulgarian folklore with Medieval Christian chants that were quite common in both the Second Bulgarian Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire.

Isihia's live performance is a long-expected event in particular, since it will be their first concert in ten years.

Other Bulgarian bands that will be featured include Smallman, an alternative rock band that often uses folklore elements in its music, Kayno Yesno Slonce (folk/ethno ambient) and Irfan (which also has a darkwave pinch). The latter two will use the festival to present their latest albums.

An open-air Amphitheater scene built specially for the festival will be opened on August 6, the first day of the event. What is remarkable about the scene is that old sketches of Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci were used to construct it.

There will be workshops in between performances where guests will be able to make musical instruments, but also gain some knowledge on subjects like robotics.

Transfiguration will feature some cinema, with a documentary titled This is Bulgaria to be screened on August 9.

A single-day ticket costs BGN 60 (EUR 30), and the entire festival can be visited for BGN 130 (EUR 65). Tickets include places for parking and putting up a tent, and entrance is free for children under 12.

"Today we, who have the spiritual need of connection with Nature and with our roots, we who want to be charged with the primal energy that flows through every nook of the Rhodope village, we will tell you a new tale and transfuse this energy to you," reads a message posted on Transfiguration Festival's website, which offers more information about the program along with pictures and videos.

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