To the south of the Balkan, in the heart of Thrace, the largest and the richest ethnographic region of Bulgaria, is situated the town of Yambol.

In 1954 a group of folk singers and musicians leading by the violinist Atanas Palenkov founded the Thracian Ensemble for folk songs and dances. Since then it has been functioning as a natural source of searching, preservation and storage of the local folklore.

During the years, thanks to the hard and long work of its members, the ensemble has developed considerably the quality and content of its production. The ensemble consists of three structural parts: a choir, an orchestra and a group of dancers. Maestro Stoyan Gagov had the greatest influence on the development of the ensemble and its image. New and modern forms and means of representing the folklore were found. Famous composers and choreographers took place in renewing and keeping up the repertoire. Maestro Gagov changed the repertoire selecting policy including songs and dances from other ethnographic regions.