New winners of the Grand Prix Golden "Orpheus" of the VIIIth World Championship of Folklore "World Folk" became the Komi-Permiatsky Song and Dance Ensemble "Shondiban" with artistic director Elena Vorobyova (Kudymkar, Russia). The participants won the Golden medal of the Championship, the title Absolute World Champion of Folklore for 2018 as well as money prize in amount of 1000 Euro which was awarded by the President of the European Association of Folklore Festivals - EAFF during the Official closing ceremony of the Championship. Silver "Orpheus" and Silver medal of the Championship were awarded by the jury to Dance ensemble "Mkhedruli" with artistic director Badri Tsetskhladze (Kobuleti, Georgia). The group received the title Absolute Vice-champion of Folklore for 2018. The award was awarded by the Chairman of the jury commission - Prof. Nikolay Kravtsov. Third place at the World Championship of Folklore "World folk" 2018 was taken from the Ensemble "Arqavaneh" with artistic director Mostafa Ahmadi (Isfahan, Iran). Bronze medal of the Championship and Bronze "Orpheus" were awarded by Valko Lyubenov, arbitrator of the Jury. The three artistic directors of the winners received the title "Maestro". The diploma was sent to the relevant institutions in order to be awarded solemnly. The fourth title "Maestro" was received by Rita Guzauskiene, artistic director of Lithuanian Chistian Choir "Gausa" (London, UK). The VIII World Championship of Folklore "World folk" 2018 was held under the patronage of the National Commission of Republic of UNESCO and the motto "Folklore - shared knowledge and our past, present and future". The Gala concert in St. Vlas was attended by: H.E. Sri Astari Rasjid - Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia in Bulgaria and Hamid Reza Azadi - Advisor on Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Bulgaria; Julia Gorbunova - Culture Department at Town Hall Obzor; Magdalena Toshkova - Culture Department at the Town Hall of Sveti Vlas; Kaloyan Nikolov - President of EAFF and the composition of the jury.During the seventh concerts, 19 groups were nominated for the Grand Prix and also 99 medals in total - 13 bronze, 36 silver and 50 golden medals. During the Closing ceremony of the Championship, Special awards were also awarded: Folklore trio "Avliga" with artistic director Rayna Hristova (Dupnitsa, Bulgaria) received the Special award on behalf of the District Governor of Burgas, Valcho Cholakov - a Diploma for presentation and promotion of folklore arts as well as the Sign of Burgas; The second Special award from Burgas Municipality - a Diploma for preservation of folklore traditions and a replica of a gold coin from the time of Emperor Constantine IV Pogonatos, found during the last excavations of Aqua Kalide were awarded to Lithuanian Christian Choir "Gausa" (London, UK). Special award from Nessebar Municipality - a Diploma for preservation, promotion and honorable presentation of folklore art, photo album "Nessebar - World Heritage City" and gift set received Bola Choi and Jooyeon Lee at the Korea National University of Arts (Seoul, Republic of Korea); Special award from Pomorie Municipality - a Diploma for honorable presentation at the VIII "World folk", the sign of Pomorie and gift set were awarded to the performers from Folklore group at the Culture Department of Tashkent region (Uzbekistan) with artistic director - National artist of Uzbekistan Sohibzhon Niezov; Special award from Sveti Vlas City hall and special gift from the Mayor were awarded to the Choir for Macedonian songs with artistic director Yordan Lazarov (Pleven, Bulgaria); Yuliq Gorbunova from Culture Department of Obzor City hall awarded Special award - a Certificate for participation and Plaque of City Hall Obzor to the "Khosh Honar" with director Aydin Bayat (Teheran, Iran); The three main criteria for evaluating stage appearances were: "Complexity and Quality" Criteria - Dance formation "Nouvelle Epoque" (Quebec, Canada), with artistic director Lorraine Gaudreau; "Vision" Criteria - Ensemble "Zmeychani" (Zmeitsa village, Bulgaria) with artistic director Emil Pehlivanov; "Stage presence" Criteria - Folklore Circus Studio "Arlekino" (Chernomorsk, Ukraine) with artistic director Nadya Volyk. With Special Awards on behalf of the the partners and organizers were honored: Mixed Indonesian Folklore Ensemble for music and dances at the Labschool Jakarta Higschool (Jakarta Timur, Indonesia) with artistic director Celvi Celvi received the Special award of EuroFolk TV - main media partner of the World Championship of Folklore "World Folk" 2018. Special award of the European Folklore Academy were awarded to the Ensemble "Shqiponja" (Podgorica, Montenegro) with artistic director Agron Pllumaj. European Association of Folklore Festivals - EAFF awarded its Special award to Children's vocal group "Shareni manista" (Pirdop, Bulgaria) with artistic director Mariyana Varbanova; World Folklore Academy - one of the main organizers of the Championship awarded its Special award to the Group „Al Sarrris Dabkeh“ which presented the Palestinian culture. Director of the group is Jad Kiadan. World Association of Folklore Festivals awarded its Special award to Group Kolintang Kawanua Jakarta (K2J) (Indonesia) with artistic director Radian Ratulangie; One of the newest awards of the Music Feasts "Euro folk" - Prize "Iliyan D. Nikolov - continuity between the generations" was awarded to Representative folklore ensemble "Slav Boykin" (Rakovski, Bulgaria) with artistic directors Katya Basheva and Velizar Vasilev. The prize is founded in memoriam of Iliyan Nikolov - the founder of Music Feasts "Euro folk" and EAFF. The littlest participant in the Championship is Sarina Aghdam (6 y.o. from Teheran, Iran). She received a Diploma from the organizers and teddy bear. All the concerts and accompanying events of the VIII World Championship of Folklore were transmitted online at neterra.tv/eurofolk. Recordings of all concerts and events will be uploaded at the same website. Bulgarian National Television (BNT) will transmit the overview music and documentary movie about the VIII World Championship of Folklore "World Folk" 2018. Photos from the event can be seen in the Facebook page of EAFF.