Let’s celebrate the Day of Bulgarian Alphabet, Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture every day and not only on 24 May. The following are my favourite must-visit places in Bulgaria and endless sources of cultural discoveries. Benches Books, Burgas At the moment, Burgas boasts ten original benches in the form of open books. Most of them are in the city centre: at the port, the Church of St. Kirill and Methody and Marine Park. The idea with the clever landmarks belongs to a local activist Tanya Anestieva who borrowed it from Istanbul […]

A white stork, a grey heron and two owls are now under my wardship for several months. I cannot take them home, but the adoption scheme allows occasional meetings to get to know birds in Bulgaria. With permanent disability, the birds are lifelong patients of the Wildlife Rescue Centre – Green Balkans in Stara Zagora (Bulgaria). Why adopt birds? The chosen birds are my favourite species, and I picked them from the list of the adoption programme. Indeed I see this form of engagement with wild birds as an excellent […]

What I like most about the observation of birds is how fruitfully people co-create each others’ experiences. Simply by sharing and discussing their discoveries related to local birds, people enrich the experiences of many. This post shows how to organize the process by joining the citizen science movement and applying digital tools. The importance of symbolic birds Urban birding is now becoming popular in many places. It is due to its ability to ensure safe distance and entertainment at the same time. Usually, birding is associated with long trips and […]

Marionettes are becoming the safest and most interactive entertainers at these times. 8-centimetres-tall cute trolls, 6-meter-tall gigantic mantises… Which stories tell the unique performers during street shows? Learn from their creators street artists Yaroslava Bykova (Plovdiv) and Plamen Ivanov, Fireter (Sofia). 98 years of puppets history in Bulgaria World Puppetry Day which we celebrate every March 21 is a great occasion to explore one of the most salient parts of Bulgarian culture – puppets-making – at different levels. The special attitude towards toys and their links to nature is reflected […]

Navigate the colourful Plovdiv streets together with local guides of a Plovdiv free tour! Public Art to Celebrate the European Capital of Culture You can join a Free walking Plovdiv Tour every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 11 am by the Municipality. Experienced guides cover different topics – the history of the city, its social life, and arts. It was particularly interesting for me to get more insights into street art, the main Plovdiv feature. With over 1000 pieces of mural decoration, it’s difficult to find a street in Plovdiv […]

For two years self-taught designer and illustrator czikkcakk (Panni Czikkely) from Veszprem-Balaton has created the Instagram community pannifalva with 20 000 + followers and collaborated with many fashion brands. In the following interview, 26-years-old Panni shares the pros and cons of being an Instagram celebrity and practical tips on managing a personal account. – Panni, which topics do you prefer to work with? People, feelings, nature and the fusion of these… I live for creating art and giving people a piece of my creativity to enjoy. – What are your […]

Combine learning with developing artistic skills! The following practical tips for learning English from art therapist and English language teacher Elena Stoycheva help you to bring more fun to your studies. Improvise to activate the brain All stimuli in the learning environment make part of the whole process. For full absorption, it’s essential to mix different activities to activate the two cerebral hemispheres. Art and creation should feature every activity. If they are in the right place, they appear as different channels of input, development and activation of the studied […]

Explore the original experience of the future European Capital of Culture Veszprém-Balaton 2023 (VEB2023), Hungary. The University of Pannonia has become one of the key partners of the project. Pannon Unifest is the most important event for generating innovative ideas that help youngsters to see their talents through different lenses and benefit the community. The festival is the brainchild of the two former students Gábor Halma and József Szeles who set up the event in 2015. Kitti Deli joined them later. Every October, Pannon UniFest creates a unique environment where […]

Creative projects are the most feasible way of developing meaningful relations between the Roma community and the Bulgarians, believe Donka Kioseva and Melina Atanasova, the performers of fire formation Firestep and women’s rights activists. With their another collaborative project – a lyric video-poem in the framework of Month of Roma culture – they show how to overcome stereotypes between the two groups in Bulgaria. The performers created the two-minute video which has already got hundreds of views on Youtube. In the video, Donka Kioseva the author of the poem telling […]

Let’s look at the global issues through caricatures! Political cartoons of the award-winning Bulgaria-born Turkish artist Aytos have made this year. His witty satire is also reflected in COVID and social illustrations. At the moment, Gabrovo Museum of Humour and Satire displays over 300 clever illustrations of the best world cartoonists, the finalists of the 45th National Exhibition of Cartoons, the Women Cartoonists International Award 2019 and Czech caricaturists. Most are available online. For the last 100 years, Gabrovo, the home town of the legendary artist Christo, has considered the […]