Folk music has modern worth; it is not a thing to be decried or relegated to background music in a museum. That is why we love Balkan Wednesdays, a recent creation of Elena, Svilen and Yanko, three Bulgarians who, after spending significant amounts of time abroad, realised that folk music can be cool.

As they say on their website www.balkanwednesdays.info, “after the Balkan rhythms covered the world and Balkan folk-style music clubbing became popular in New York, Frankfurt and other music metropolises, we launched Balkan Wednesdays in the very heart of the Balkans – Sofia”.

The monthly parties that Shukar Entertainment organises take a new look at traditional tunes, using DJs and live musicians to reinterpret and modernise rhythms and melodies that have been sung for centuries, all while placing a sense of value on their heritage.

Though they are called “Balkan Wednesdays”, the parties do not necessarily take place mid-week: the April gathering will be held on Saturday the 12th, from 10pm at Chillout Cafe on Triaditsa Street. The theme? 2008: A Space Odyssey Party, in honour of International Cosmonaut Day. Spinning that evening will be DJs from Hamburg’s Datscha Project – DJ Andrej Lido, DJ Rodion Levin, VJ Vladislav Estrin – along with the cafe’s resident DJ Dharba. Music will be Russian ska, Balkan dub and funk, gypsy electronica and more.

Past themes have included Halloween, Gypsy Christmas and, in March, a Russian DJ accompanied by a gypsy orchestra, rakiya and tourshiya (the latter two being Bulgarian brandy and pickled vegetables, respectively).