site.btaConsulate General in Odesa Plans Bulgarian National Day Celebrations

The Consulate General of Bulgaria in the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa is organizing a celebration of Bulgaria’s National Day, March 3, to be held on March 1, said Consul General Svetoslav Ivanov, speaking for the BG World section of BTA.

Ivanov said: “After we restored the work of the Consulate General in 2023, which had been suspended because of the war, I made a promise to myself that on every occasion related to our national holiday I would bring together representatives of our diaspora, of civic organizations, and especially those organizations that are beneficiaries under education programmes. We are organizing the celebration of March 3 for the third time.”

To mark the national holiday, the Consulate General will host an exhibition of artists of Bulgarian origin, among them Ivan Shishman, a Distinguished Artist of Ukraine who last year held an exhibition in the Bulgarian Parliament.

A one-hour cultural programme will also be prepared, to be performed by Bulgarian folk ensembles from the village of Kamchyk.

“We are expecting guests from Bulgaria – the Chair of the Committee on Direct Citizen Participation, Petitions and Interaction with Civil Society, Rositsa Kirova. She will deliver a donation to the civic organizations that are beneficiaries under the activities linked to the Bulgarian Sunday schools,” the Consul General added.

He and Kirova have been invited by the Mayor of Kulevcha, Mikhail Popov, to celebrate Bulgaria's National Day in that village on March 2. Ivanov said: "Ninety-five percent of the population there are ethnic Bulgarians, settlers from the village of Hulevcha in [Bulgaria's] Shumen region. There is an active Bulgarian Sunday school there, which at the end of 2025 was approved and received financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria.”