Smilyan Beans Fest

Each year in November in Smilyan village a Beans Fest takes place. The village is famous as the biggest producer of kidney beans, which is popular throughout the country as Smilyan beans. Various competitions are carried out – for the best producer of beans, best applied-arts composition form beans, for best gastronomy dish prepared from Smilyan beans. All the restaurants in the village offer a free beans soup. The authentic folklore group performs a programme of various sketches connected with the growing of beans as a traditional occupation of population in the Rhodope Mountains .