Folk singer Kostadin Mihaylov from Strandzha will mark his 35th birthday and 20 years of creative work with a folk concert in Burgas on Monday, 9 November.

The concert starts at 6pm in the Toncho Rusev hall of the NHK Cultural Centre. Entry is free for residents and visitors. Regional governor Diko Dikov is the patron of the evening.

Also taking part are the Strandzha folk song and dance ensemble, folk singers Zlatka and Irina Stavrevi, Petko Nanchev, Kristiyan Papanchev, the Rosen folk group, Zhivko Petrov, Kerka Toteva, the Strandzhanche folk group, Stoyan Ganchev, Nikolay Gurbanov, Assoc Prof Dr Danka Tsvetkova, the Nastroenie folk club and others.

The regional administration says Mihaylov is one of the brightest young keepers of Bulgarian folklore and Strandzha's singing tradition. It sees the concert as a celebration of the Strandzha spirit and a tribute to a singer who preserves the tradition for future generations.

Mihaylov has done fieldwork in the Strandzha mountains for more than two decades. He has collected hundreds of authentic folk songs from more than 180 elderly residents of the area, recording them in the villages of Brodilovo, Gramatikovo, Stoilovo, Balgari and others. Some appear on his solo albums "Sabrali sa se, sabrali" and "Zlatku le, zlatna yabalko".

He is a folklorist with a master's degree in folk singing from the Prof Dr Asen Diamandiev Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv. Away from the stage, he does research and educational work. He has written monographs and folklore books, among them "The Folklore Bloom of Strandzha" and "Daughter of Legendary Strandzha", a biography of Zlatka Stavreva, and studies of Strandzha village fairs and stories.

He is now a curator at the Prof Dr Alexander Fol History Museum in Malko Tarnovo.

In Strandzha, Mihaylov is among the youngest authentic nestinari, or fire dancers. He first stepped into the fire at 13. He defends and promotes the spiritual meaning of the nestinari rite in Bulgaria and abroad.

He has won dozens of first and special prizes at national and international competitions, including the Georgi Pavlov prize. He is an honorary citizen of Tsarevo municipality for his contribution to preserving the Bulgarian spirit and culture.