site.btaBTA to Support Sveti Vlas Film Fest

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) will be backing the Sveti Vlas Film Fest held in the Sveti Vlas resort on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The national news agency, represented by Director General Kiril Valchev, signed Thursday a partnership agreement with the Bulgarian Memory - Dinevi Brothers Foundation, represented by its chairman, Stoyan Raychevski, and co-chair Yordan Dinev, which is organizing the event.

Valchev pointed out that in the last two years BTA has supported about twenty festivals taking place in Bulgaria, and is popularizing them in Bulgaria and around the world. "On average every month we add one more festival to report on a regular basis. This is because the law regulating the operation of BTA requires that the news agency promote national traditions and culture, "but there is actually a bigger message in this practice: that Bulgaria offers more than sea and mountain holidays". "Bulgaria offers strong cultural experiences. These opportunities need to be promoted," the BTA Director General said.

BTA partners with and writes about the Varna Summer International Theatre Festival, the Golden Rose film festival, the Burgas and the Sea song festival, the jazz festivals in Samokov and Bansko, as well as Piano Extravaganza held by Bulgarian pianist Ludmil Angelov. BTA has been a partner of the Sozopol Apollonia Festival for years, as well as of the Stage of the Ages festival in Veliko Tarnovo, March Music Days in Ruse, the film festivals of the Master of Art Foundation for documentary cinema, as well as the festival in Koprivshtitsa. It also promotes the Sofia festivals and partners with the Sofia Opera and Ballet, the Sofia Philharmonic, and the Music Theatre in Sofia, to mention but a few.

"BTA is ready to add more such festivals and I am sure that the example set by Sveti Vlas will be followed by other smaller resort towns. I hope that this is a small contribution of the Bulgarian state to assist with the promotion through BTA of such events," Valchev concluded.

The chairman of the Bulgarian Memory - Dinevi Brothers Foundation, Stoyan Raychevski, said that with its work in the field of culture and heritage, they have left a lasting mark in Bulgaria and beyond. "It is a great joy and pleasure for me that the BTA accepted the partnership, because the BTA is not only a media outlet but also an organization that works to preserve the national memory." He said there are many heritage sites in Sveti Vlas, which are the basis of cultural tourism there.  "Without the support of such organizations, cultural tourism could hardly thrive and Bulgaria's popularity could hardly reach the level that we want," Raychevski pointed out.