site.btaUPDATED Bulgaria Opens Bucharest Bookfest as Guest of Honour
The International Book Fair Bookfest opened at the Romexpo Exhibition Centre in Bucharest with a performance of the Bulgarian national anthem by opera singer Ana-Maria Spataris. Bulgaria is this year's guest of honour at the event, while BTA is a media partner.
In the presence of Roxana Butnaru, State Adviser at the Orders' Chancellery, Culture Minister Andras Demeter and Bucharest Mayor Ciprian Ciucu, Bulgaria's Ambassador to Romania, Radko Vlaykov, thanked Romania from the Arena stage for the centuries-long hospitality Romanian intellectuals and artists have extended to their Bulgarian counterparts.
"One hundred and fifty years ago, in 1870, Bucharest was home to eight Bulgarian printing houses, and all Bulgarian periodicals, as well as a number of books, were printed here. There is no prominent figure in Bulgarian history whose fate was not linked to Romania and Bucharest – Botev, Levski, Rakovski and Karavelov. The Bulgarian people have always been grateful to the Romanian people for their protection. This is a centuries-old partnership that began back then," the diplomat said.
He also highlighted several recent examples of cooperation and closeness between the two countries.
"Earlier this month, a photograph from Bulgaria travelled around the world. It showed newlyweds greeting the Giro d'Italia cyclists. It turned out that the groom was Bulgarian and the bride Romanian. And Romanian composer Cristian Tarcea-Monoir contributed to Bangaranga, the song with which Dara and Bulgaria won Eurovision. These are stories worthy of a book or a film," Vlaykov said with a smile.
All participants in the opening ceremony of the International Book Fair gathered for a commemorative photograph before visiting Bulgaria's stand.
Roxana Butnaru presented a certificate of high patronage on behalf of Head of State Nicușor Dan for the 19th edition of the Bookfest and welcomed Bulgaria as the event's guest of honour.
"The certificate is a recognition of the significance of this event. Literature can bring people and cultures closer together, and these events do just that, they bring us closer," she pointed out.
Romanian Minister of Culture Andras Demeter also congratulated Bulgaria, and before visiting the country's stand, he touched on the challenges facing books in the world of modern technology and artificial intelligence.
"Civilizations are built on ideas, and ideas circulate through books. Books provide freedom of thought and expression. Bookfest is a place for meaningful encounters of the spirit," he noted.
Demeter noted that his country has achieved international success and will be the guest of honour at the world’s oldest book fair, the Frankfurt Book Fair, in 2028.
The last to take the stage was Bucharest Mayor Ciprian Ciucu. The fair's organizers noted that they had never before enjoyed such a distinguished presence and expressed hope that this would mark the beginning of a partnership with the Bucharest Municipality for the International Book Fair.
"Promises at the end. Politicians are good at making promises," the mayor said. He noted that Bucharest's current cultural strategy is coming to an end this year and a new one must be drafted.
"Bucharest has enormous potential, but it remains untapped. We will certainly invite publishers as well to discuss the new strategy for the Romanian capital. But we also need to consider the budgetary aspect. We cannot talk about a cultural strategy without doing the math. That is important to me," Ciucu noted.
At the end of the official opening of the International Book Fair, all participants took a group photo as a memento. Among them was BTA Director General Kiril Valchev.
During the opening of the Bulgarian stand, Valchev presented a Romanian-language edition of BTA's BG SPA - Health Through Water to Demeter, Butnaru and to Mihai Mitrica, the executive director of the Romanian Publishers' Association.
Seventeen Romanian students from the Bulgarian Hristo Botev High School in Bucharest performed Bulgarian folk dances in traditional costumers at the country’s stand. They told BTA that they have been performing Bulgarian folk dances in this group for three years. "We study Bulgarian at the Hristo Botev Theoretical High School in Bucharest,” they said.
Following Bulgaria, Greece will be the guest of honour in 2027.
/RY/
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