The openning of Plovdiv 2019
It all started in January 2019 with my internship and first volunteer experience at the Plovdiv 2019 opening ceremony.
Together with volunteers from Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Italy, we assissted dozens of various Plovdiv 2019 events.
My favourite experience had to do with volunteering for the "D'Ambrosio" band from Montescaglioso - Matera (Italy).
I love music, and it was interesting to assist the wind orchestra at different stages of its preparation for the concert.
For over 30 years, they have been making Italian classical musical accessible to the general public in Italy and abroad with their street performances.
We (5 volunteers) carried chairs and a lot of equipment for the Italian musicians before and after the concert.
The weather was cold and sometimes our hands went numb.
The impressive concert with the pieces of operas by Verdi, Rossini and Puccini was the greatest gratification for us.
Wish for Plovdiv
"Wish for Plovdiv" was the Christmas communication campaign in November 2019 by Plovdiv 2019 in which I actively participated as a volunteer coordinator, communication specialist, and volunteer.
The campaign united the community with a simple idea: to write New Year's greetings for Plovdiv across 10 different locations in the city.
Together with volunteer coordinator Kami Clifton, we organized a series of workshops for the volunteers where they decorated special boxes for gathering the wishes.
Then we distributed them in different places where people could write and leave notes.
For a week, we collected dozens of wishes.
One of the most common shared wishes was for Plovdiv to become an internationally recognized hub for multinational dialogue.
62 lanterns for a community event
Over 60 paper lanterns in one week were created for a fantastic show for International Volunteer Day on December 5th.
The creative lab was run by the teams of the School of Participation and Plovdiv 2019.
Plovdiv volunteers collaborated with creative professionals from other European Capitals of Culture.
The event brought together around 30 volunteers and 26 creative professionals (myself included:) from Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, Armenia and England.
Most of them represented the future European Capitals of Culture.
I have already written about the event on the Volunteers Plovdiv 2019 blog and posted on Instagram.
FUSION - Urban Games Festival
Play. Learn. Collaborate.
These simple principles guided the largest collaborative project between the two European capitals Plovdiv 2019 and Matera 2019 - FUSION - Urban Games Festival.
Various street quests brought together Plovdiv residents, guests from Italy, Germany, England, Argentina and Russia.
They searched for different hidden objects. And the process helped them to learn about little known the city signs and legends.
To document that original experience, I prepared an interview with the Italian volunteers Matteo and Giuseppe in English, Italian and Bulgarian for the blog Plovdiv Volunteers 2019.
You can read the text here.
Welcoming Galway 2020
Exchange trips to new European Capitals of Culture are the favourite and long-waited experience of all volunteers.
It's a great honour to be selected to host international volunteers or represent one's country abroad.
I had both experiences.
In December 2019, I greeted Irish volunteers at Plovdiv 2019.
And in January 2020, I represented Bulgaria at Galway 2020.
During their week-long stay in Plovdiv, Galway volunteers Iggy Egan and Cara Cleary shared the daily routine of Plovdiv volunteers.
Together we prepared the presentation and a game for our weekly volunteer meeting, met guests at the weekend exhibitions and watched live streaming the #Plovdiv2019 closing ceremony at Plovdiv Lucky Cinema.
Let the magic in! Opening Galway2020
My volunteering in Galway (Ireland), European Capital of Culture - 2020, became the logical continuation of the Plovdiv internship.
I was selected to represent Bulgaria, together with another Bulgarian volunteer, in the framework of the international exchange program.
Due to bad weather, the Galway 2020 opening ceremony was canceled a few hours before the start.
We have combined the wisdom of volunteers from different countries to create an impromptu program based on Galway's original attractions.
With my new posts, I will be sharing more 'Cultural Insights' in the format of trip notes and interviews with professionals involved in creative and environmental projects across Europe.
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