site.btaBTA, Bansko Municipality Sign Cooperation Agreement on Winter Season Opening Day

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and Bansko Mayor Stoycho Banenski signed a cooperation agreement on Saturday when the winter tourist season opened in this Pirin Mountain resort. 

Valchev said the agreement with Bansko Municipality covers the entire municipal cultural programme. He recalled that in August last year, BTA, the municipality and the Bulgarian Festivals Association, co-organizer of Bansko Jazz Festival, signed a separate agreement specifically for the festival.

"Bansko hosts a wide range of festivals, and it makes sense to expand this partnership," Valchev said, listing major events, including the country's largest mountain film festival, Bansko Film Fest, the Bansko Ultra Marathon, Bansko Opera Fest, and the culinary celebration Unique Bansko. He added that the town is historically connected to prominent figures such as Paisius of Hilendar, author of Slav-Bulgarian History (1762); the monk and artist Neophyte of Rila; and the poet Nikola Vaptsarov, and events linked to them deserve regular coverage by BTA.

Valchev highlighted a significant increase in BTA's coverage of Bansko since 2015, noting a manyfold rise in the last few years. So far this year, there have been 99 news items about Bansko in the LIK cultural service and 23 reports in BTA's English Service. In the past three years, more than 1,000 reports from institutions have been published by BTA.

Mayor Stoycho Banenski said: "Thanks to the natural and architectural features of our town and the mountain, Bansko will continue to maintain a strong presence on the European and global tourism map." He thanked Valchev and BTA for the fruitful cooperation and added that the cooperation agreement reflects a relationship built on trust and professionalism.

Valchev presented archival photos of Bansko, including its natural and historical landmarks. The oldest of the photos dates from 1953.

He also gifted Banenski two copies of BTA's LIK magazine. One of them covers tourism development in Bulgaria, including the 100 national tourist sites. Some of them are in Bansko: the house museums of Nikola Vaptsarov and Neophyte of Rila, Velyan Ognev's House Museum, the permanent icon exhibition, and the Holy Trinity church. The other copy of LIK showcases jazz festivals in Bulgaria, and includes Banenski's remarks on the history and development of Bansko Jazz Festival.