site.btaBulgarian Diaspora in Kyiv Celebrates Holiday Trifon Zarezan

The Bulgarian holiday Trifon Zarezan, a festival of vine growers and wine, was celebrated in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Evgeny Smushkov, a representative of a Ukraine-Bulgaria friendship council told BTA on Tuesday. The event was organized by the Rodolyubie Bulgarian Cultural Society led by Sergey Diordiev.

The traditional pruning of the vines took place at the M. M. Hryshko National Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Honoured guests were Elena Slatinska-Ovanezova, Charge d’Affaires at the Bulgarian Embassy in Ukraine, and Oleksandr Kopylenko, People Deputy of Ukraine and Co-Chair of the Ukraine-Bulgaria friendship group. The celebration was attended by Sergey Petkov, Chair of the Ukraine-Bulgaria Friendship Society, as well as members of other Bulgarian organizations in the city.

The event continued with a concert programme with songs dedicated to viticulture and St. Tryphon. As is tradition, a King of the Vines was chosen, which this year was the Bulgarian artist Pavel Balamadzhi, who symbolically pruned the vines.