site.btaNine Reach LUNAR Festival's International 3D Video Mapping Competition Final

The finalists in an international video 3D mapping contest, Legacy, organized by MP-STUDIO as part of the fourth edition of the LUNAR Festival of Lights, are nine instead of the originally planned seven, said Marin Petkov, founder of MP Studio and the Lunar Festival.

The finalists selected by the six-member jury are from eight countries - Singapore, Ukraine, Indonesia, Romania, Italy, Hungary, Spain, Belgium. The winners will be announced on May 11, the last night of the festival.

According to him, the video mapping competitions are usually the highlight of every light festival and enjoy great interest from the audience. Petkov said that this year 52 studios from 28 countries expressed their willingness to participate in the competition.

"With the support of this festival and the competition, we are making a statement that such events are part of our overall programme and support for the development of urban tourism, which is increasingly becoming one of the important subsectors in tourism," said Tourism Minister Miroslav Borshosh. He explained that this is tourism related to visits to cities by young and middle-aged people, who do not always use organized holidays, but are a significant share of tourism, especially in large cities.

According to Borshosh, in recent years there has been a growth in urban tourism and it is one of the sub-sectors that has recovered fastest after the kowtow crisis. In this sense, the LUNAR festival, which involves 18 countries with more than 24 participants, is a magnet for many people from all over the world, the minister said.

He cited data that there are about 30,000 registrations at capital hotels each year around the festival, with a 5-6% year-on-year growth in 2024.

Borshosh stressed that the organizers have the full support of the Tourism Ministry not only for this year but also for the next year. He expressed hope that the festival will reach other cities in the future.

The international 3D video mapping competition, supported by the Tourism Ministry, is held for fourth consecutive year. The works of the finalists in the competition will be projected on the facade of the National Gallery/Square 500 and there are 13 other locations besides the National Gallery/Square 500. Access to all works will be free, and they will be presented during the four evening shows of the LUNAR Festival from May 8 to 11 May, from 9 pm to midnight.