10th Bulgarian Reading Contest Held in Paris

Hosted by the Sts Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian School based at Sainte-Genevieve Institute in Paris, the 10th Az Buki Vedi International Bulgarian Reading Contest for First- and Second-Grade Pupils Abroad brought together 56 children from 27 Bulgarian schools in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

This year's edition was held under the auspices of Bulgarian Ambassador to France Radka Balabanova-Ruleva. The competition, founded by the Az Buki Vedi Bulgarian Sunday School in Cologne, was supported financially by Bulgaria's Ministry of Education and Science. The Bulgarian News Agency is the competition's official media partner.

Before the official opening, children's author Tsveta Brestnichka met with participants and signed books at a book stand set up in the school courtyard as part of the accompanying programme. A second stand, featuring Bulgarian books provided by the Artavenir Foundation, was also set up.

The opening ceremony featured a theatrical performance by the school's drama club, a musical performance by the children's vocal group Kitchitsa, and greetings from previous winners.

Throughout the day, children also took part in games, creative workshops, and themed photo corners. Activities included decorating glass jars, creating artwork inspired by favourite literary characters, making cardboard flower bouquets, turning letters of the Bulgarian alphabet into artistic compositions, and painting seashells.

Participants also created a fingerprint tree, which was presented as a gift to Rositsa Bayraktarski, principal of the Az Buki Vedi Bulgarian Sunday School in Cologne.

During the event, actress Vanya Doneva presented the project "Learning Language through Art" to representatives of Bulgarian schools abroad. Together with actress Irina Georgieva, she also performed The Tinderbox.

Dimitrinka Niklina of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian School in Dortmund accepted the statuette symbolizing the hosting rights for the 11th edition of the competition and announced that next year's event will take place on June 26.

A draw was also held to determine the host of the 2028 edition. The competition will then be organized by the Sts Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Sunday School in Regensburg, Germany.

The competition itself consisted of three rounds.

In the first round, participants read a familiar text from their first- or second-grade Bulgarian reading textbook. All contestants advanced to the second round, where they read an unfamiliar prose text. Those selected by the four-member jury progressed to the final round, in which they read an unfamiliar text in verse. The jury was chaired by Prof. Zhivka Koleva-Zlateva and also included Associate Professor Iliyana Chekova-Dimitrova, writer Brestnichka, and Valentina Stoeva, founder of the Children's Books Foundation, which promotes reading.

Following the final round, the jury announced the winners for first and second grade, as well as one runner-up in each grade.

Nikolas Hulala of the Hristo Botev Bulgarian Secondary School in Bratislava and Lea Todorova of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian School in Paris were crowned "King" and "Queen" of the Letters. The awards were presented by Milena Dimitrova, Secretary to the Bulgarian President for Culture, Education, and Relations with Bulgarians Abroad, who also read a congratulatory message from head of State Iliana Iotova.

The title "Lord of the Letters" was awarded to first-grader Filip Nisteya of the St Prince Boris I Bulgarian Sunday School in Aachen and second-grader Viktor Stoyanov of the Hristo Botev Bulgarian School in Cheltenham.

All participants received the distinction "Guardian of the Letters."

Awards were also presented by Elisaveta Belobradova, Deputy Chair of the parliamentary Committee on Policies for Bulgarians Abroad; Education and Science Minister Prof. Georgi Valchev; Raina Mandzhukova, Executive Director of the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad; Ambassador Radka Balabanova-Ruleva; Rositsa Bayraktarski, representing the competition's founding school in Cologne; Dimitar Abrashev, a member of the Bulgarian National Radio Management Board; and Kamelia Triboulin-Konaktchieva on behalf of the host school.

The competition concluded with a group photo and a performance by the Zora Folk Ensemble based in Paris.

The competition's inaugural edition was organized by Lyubomir Lyubomirov and Rositsa Bayraktarski in 2017. Over the years, the event has been hosted by Bulgarian schools in Munster, Mannheim, Aachen, Bad Lippspringe, Armagh, Koblenz, and London, with all editions organized in partnership with the Az Buki Vedi school in Cologne. During the COVID-19 pandemic, two editions were held online.

/IV/