Highlights from the program in Plovdiv for the National Awakeners Day - 1st of November

For the first time, the National Awakeners Day - November the 1st was celebrated in Plovdiv in 1909. Until then, on this date, the day of St. Ivan Rilski was celebrated /in old style/. In 1922, the National Assembly declared this day a holiday for all "deserving Bulgarians". Many cities and villages in post-liberation Bulgaria want to pay the deserved appreciation to the national awakeners by naming streets, community centers and schools after them. For this reason, Stoyan Omarchevsky, Minister of Public Education of Bulgaria, in 1922 submitted a proposal to the Council of Ministers for the designation of November 1st as the Day of the Bulgarian National Awakeners. Long before the official announcement of this holiday by law, the Bulgarian people honored their Awakeners and canonized them as saints in their historical memory.

For the first time the holiday was celebrated in Plovdiv in 1909, and from 1922 to 1945 it was a national holiday. Since 1945, the holiday has been canceled and after a long break with the Law on the Supplement to the Labor Code, adopted by the 36th National Assembly on October 28, 1992, the tradition of the holiday was resumed.

Many cultural institutions, galleries, museums and schools in Plovdiv organize special events dedicated to the holiday every year. The highlight of the celebrations this year is the big concert of the Municipal Community Centers Union - Plovdiv at the Roman Stadium under the title "Homage, National Awakeners". The event is on October 31 at 5:30 p.m. and is supported by the Municipality of Plovdiv and hosted by the Municipal Institute "Ancient Plovdiv". Every year, more than 120 musicians, dancers and singers of different ages participate in it from the Community Centers' amateur collectives, winners of awards from festivals that popularized the beauty of Bulgarian music and dance not only in the country but outside the borders of Bulgaria.

For the third year, the project "National Awakeners and I" and the Municipality of Plovdiv are organizing a procession on November 1 of students, teachers and representatives of scientific and cultural institutions with a route from "May 11" Square in front of the "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" to the end point - Central Square - Military Club. On May 11 Square in front of the High School "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" at 10:00 a.m. a festive speech by the Mayor of Plovdiv Municipality and a prayer service are planned. At 10:30 a.m. is the start of the procession to Central Square - Military Club, which will be led by the Military Brass Band. Along the route, the procession will pass by the stairs of Kamenitsa, where the Plovdiv Boys Choir "Stefka Blagoeva" with conductor Milka Toledova will give a musical greeting for the holiday. A solemn concert will be held in the Military Club in honor of the holiday, prepared and organized by AMTII "Prof. A. Diamandiev ". The start is at 11.45 a.m., the entrance is free!

Here are some selected highlights from the program for the Day of People's Wakers!

MUNICIPAL COMMUNITY CENTERS UNION - PLOVDIV

Date: October 31 (Thursday)

Time: 5:30 p.m.

Venue: Roman Stadium

For another year, the Municipal Community Centers Union - Plovdiv with the support of the Municipality of Plovdiv invites the residents of Plovdiv and guests of the city to a big holiday concert "Homage, National Awakeners!" dedicated to the National  Awakeners Day with the participation of the amateur ensembles of the community centers from the city of Plovdiv.

The following will take part : Club "Let's dance" to the Community Center "Dimitar Peshev - 1988" with band leader Yulia Atanasova and Rashid Bejek from the Community Center "Dimitar Peshev - 1988", Children's Vocal Group "Balgarka" from the Community Center "Tsar Boris III and Tsaritsa Joanna -1931" with a band manager Evelina Ivanova, bagpipe group "Karajata" with artistic director Yavor Bobev and dance collective "Buldens" with musical director Gergana Gencheva at the Community Center "N.Y. Vaptsarov - 1928", women's folk choir "Rodna pesen" at the Community Center "P.R. Slaveikov -1908" with music leader Zlatka Stefanova and accompanist Hristo Hristozov, Lilia Gateshka from the singing school at the Community Center "Savremennik - 1986" with a band leader Yordanka Marinova, mixed vocal group "Slancheva Trakia" with artistic leader Asparuh Kostov and folklore formation "Zharava" with artistic leader Kristina Angelova at the "Community Center Mladost - 1983", singing group "Friends" with music director and accompanist Hristo Hristozov at the Community Center "Nazam Hikmet - 1922", dance studio "Millennium" with artistic director Tsvetomira Krumova at the Community Center "Zahari Stoyanov - 1984" with director Kaloyan Ivanov and "Millennium" dance studio with artistic director leader Tsvetomira Krumova of the Community Center "Hristo Smirenski - 1935", children's folk group "Mini Stilika" and club for folk dances "Stilika" with atistic manager Katia Licheva at the Community Center "Hristo Botev - 1905".

Entrance is free!

MUNICIPAL INSTITUTE "ANCIENT PLOVDIV"

Date: October 31 (Thursday)

Time: 2:00 p.m.

Place: House of Veren Stambolyan

The team of Municipal Institute "Ancient Plovdiv" celebrates the 90th anniversary of the birth of one of the most significant Bulgarian artists - Yoan Leviev, with a public lecture by art critic Prof. Dr. Galina Lardeva, a specially prepared exhibition with Leviev's paintings and author's photographs of him mosaic panels and murals in Plovdiv, as well as a screening of the documentary film "Sentimental Journey" on BNT.

The special event will be celebrated on the creator's birthday - October 31, from 2:00 p.m. at Veren Stambolyan 's House at 15 "Kiril Nektariev " Street with free entry.

An exhibition prepared especially for the event presents several canvases by Yoan Leviev - part of the rich funds of the Institute, as well as author's photographs of his mosaics and murals in Plovdiv.

Part of the celebration of the significant anniversary will be the broadcast of the documentary film "Sentimental Journey" (screenplay: Pepa Slavcheva, director: Varta Marukyan, cinematographer: Nikolay Penchev, producer: RTTVC - Plovdiv, 29'), dedicated to the creator. You can watch the film at Veren Stambolyan 's House until Saturday, November 2, 2024.

The event is organized by the Municipal Institute "Ancient Plovdiv" in partnership with the Bulgarian National Television, RTVC - Plovdiv, National Library "Ivan Vazov", Drama Theater - Plovdiv, Vocational High School of Architecture, Construction and Geodesy "Arch. Kamen Petkov" - Plovdiv.

Entrance is free!

REGIONAL ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM - PLOVDIV

Date: October 31 (Thursday)

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Place: Regional Ethnographic Museum - Plovdiv

On the eve of the National Awakeners Day, we invite you to the presentation of the album "Vaklush" in Plovdiv. The extraordinary story of Vaklush Tolev is told with photos and text on 376 pages in the album "Vaklush". A large part of the more than 160 photographs are the work of the photographer Lubomir Andreev and are being published for the first time. They have exceptional documentary value, as they trace the life of Vaklush Tolev in the period 1989-2013 and have captured exciting moments of his meetings with dozens of Bulgarian and international personalities. Archive photos from his youth are also included, as well as portraits taken by photographer Yavor Popov. The artist of the album is Adriana Gerasimova.

The publication is a continuation of the documentary film of the same name by the director Nikolay Vasilev - "Vaklush", which enjoys great audience interest and has been awarded with many prestigious international awards. The event will be accompanied by a musical performance by organist Nadezhda Kuzmanova, and actor Petar Toskov will read excerpts from the album.

Entrance is free!

Date: November 1 (Friday)

Time: 2:00 p.m.

Place: Regional Ethnographic Museum - Plovdiv

On National Awakeners Day, the museum organizes an event from the Exhibit on focus series. Valuable and little-known items that belonged to the prominent Plovdiv Metropolitan Natanail Ohridski will be presented. One of them is the wooden chest only of its kind, decorated with the marquetry technique. The artist Mihaela Danailova will be the guest speaker at the event, who will reveal more about the history and meaning of the depicted symbols.

Entrance is free!

CITY ART GALLERY – PLOVDIV

Date: November 1 (Friday)

Time: 5:00 p.m.

Gladstone Street

At the invitation of the City Art Gallery - Plovdiv on the Day of the People's Awakeners - November 1, Assoc. Dr. Boyka Donevska - art critic, art history teacher at the National Art Academy in Sofia, will present to the Plovdiv audience her new book "The National Tradition in Bulgarian art in the 1960s". The event starts at 5:00 p.m. and will be held in the "2019" Hall among the paintings of Yoan Leviev - one of the most prominent artists of the period, the subject of research in the book.

The monograph aims to trace the problem of the interpretation of the national tradition in the Bulgarian artistic space in the 60s of the twentieth century, when artists and critics dialogued the process in a different way, synchronous with the overall development of art and aesthetic theory during the period.

Entrance is free!