BTA Director General Valchev: New Festive Bulgaria Section Maps Festivals Nationwide

Vanya Suharova, Kaloyan Kirilov

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev at the Tsarevgrad Tarnov – Sound and Light Viewing Hall, Veliko Tarnovo, July 17, 2026 (BTA Photo/Nikolay Venkov)

Veliko Tarnovo, North Central Bulgaria,

17.07.2026 18:30

(BTA)

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) will launch Festive Bulgaria, a new festival news section, on September 27, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said on Friday. It will feature a map of festivals nationwide.

Valchev announced the section during the presentation of LIK magazine’s July issue, dedicated to Stage of the Ages, Bulgaria’s longest-running open-air opera and ballet festival. The festival takes place in Veliko Tarnovo against the natural backdrop of historic Tsarevets Hill.

BTA will launch the section on World Tourism Day, September 27, featuring a map of all festivals in Bulgaria and news about them. “The section will be called Festive Bulgaria in BTA’s English-language news service. The idea is to bring together our country’s colourful cultural calendar in one place, and our host this evening, Veliko Tarnovo, has a special place in it,” Valchev said.

Valchev said he had discussed the section with Tourism Minister Ilin Dimitrov and that BTA would receive support from the Tourism Ministry. BTA will work on the project with Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) and Bulgarian National Television (BNT).

“We plan to present Bulgaria’s festival tourism opportunities at special discussions in all of the Agency’s national press clubs, which now number 33 across the country,” Valchev added.

Valchev noted that this month’s magazine cover is purple, the colour of Veliko Tarnovo, and highlights the 20 editions held over the festival’s 40-year history. Both anniversaries were marked last year. “That was when we signed a partnership agreement for Veliko Tarnovo’s cultural calendar with Veliko Tarnovo Mayor Daniel Panov,” Valchev said.

Valchev added that he and Panov had agreed at the time to publish the LIK issue after the festival’s 20th edition, rather than during it, so the magazine could cover both anniversaries.

Valchev said this was the latest LIK issue devoted to festivals in Bulgaria. The previous eight issues were Bulgaria in Jazz, featuring a map of the country’s 65 jazz festivals, CineLibri at 10, Varna Summer, Golden Rose, Apollonia, Burgas and the Sea, 50 Years of Southern Spring and March Music Days.

BTA has agreements with 17 municipalities to support their cultural calendars and with more than 30 festivals, Valchev recalled.

LIK magazine became freely accessible in January 2024. All issues published from its relaunch in 2022 up to Friday can be downloaded in electronic format from BTA’s website. The July issue, devoted to Stage of the Ages, is also available there, in Bulgarian language only.

/RY/