The 31st Surva International Festival of Masquerade Games has brought together over 12,000 participants in Pernik, Southwestern Bulgaria, according to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

By comparison, last year’s festival attracted 10,000 attendees.

The festival kicked off on Friday morning with a masquerade procession featuring more than 1,500 children, marking a record turnout. The previous edition saw 500 fewer pupils participating in the procession.

A scientific conference titled "Masquerade: Tradition, Memory, Modernity," organized by the Regional History Museum in Pernik, was also part of the programme.

This year saw an increase in international participation compared to 2024, with 22 groups from countries such as Greece, Spain, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Italy.

Surva has been held since 1966. In 2015, the Surova folk feast from the Pernik region was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The event celebrates and revives old rituals and elements of the folklore tradition of Bulgaria.

The Surva International Festival of Masquerade Games is organized with the support of the Culture Ministry and the Tourism Ministry, with BTA being one of the media partners for the event.