EC DAY 2019 & BALKAN GAMES FESTIVAL - 28 & 29 September 2019, Blagoevgrad

 

 
During the period of 28^th – 29^th of September, in the city of Blagoevgrad was held the second part  of the festival “Balkan Games”, which is realized  within the framework of the project „Borderless culture“.

The festival is organized by Municipality of Blagoevgrad in cooperation with the Directorate "Management of Territorial Cooperation" at the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works - National Authority of the INTERREG V-A Cooperation Program "Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020" and was part of the events, in which the European Cooperation Day 2019 is noted.

The start of the Festival days was given by Mrs. Hristina Shopova – deputy mayor for culture and humanitarian affairs, who welcomed all of the participants and the guests: “This is an extremely important project for the city of Blagoevgrad – the first common with the Southwest University “Neofit Rilski” and with our Greek partners. I am sure that during these two days you will enjoy the rich culture of Bulgaria and Greece. The second part of the festival is focused on childrens’ creativity. The city of Blagoevgrad has a lot of reasons to be proud in that sector, our city has a lot to show! The aim is – our young Europeans, the young citizens of Blagoevgrad and our Greek friends, to show their talent and to make new friendships. Blagoevgrad, despite the fact that is ancient, Blagoevgrad is also a modern city – we look bravely to the future, thanks to our talented children“, said the deputy mayor of the city of Blagoevgrad – Hristina Shopova. 

The festival days were an arena for sharing the ethno-cultural, musical and dance variety of Bulgaria and Greece. The citizens and the guests of the city, had the opportunity to enjoy a rich program, with a lot of music, songs and dance in different genres, presented by more than 350 children and youngsters at the age of 3 to 19 years old, who were representing Bulgaria and Greece. Folklore dances and a parade on a wheeled platform, through the central streets of the city were part of the entertainment activities for the young and old Balkanians.

The area around the scene was separated as a zone of the friendship, where many art studios were located, demonstrating different types of techniques of applied decorative art, fashion and design, art, stained glass and ceramics, an area for the achievements of the schools through the years, separate places for photos, a board for messages and a charity bazaar for helping a sick child. On the interactive workshop on wheels, more than 300 people had the opportunity to visit virtual objects, presenting the cultural-historic and ancient objects in Bulgaria and Greece and to participate in already prepared educational games and raffles with awards. In addition, cost-free tourist tours, were organized for the citizens and the guests of Blagoevgrad. The leaders of the schools of Bulgaria and Greece did a working meeting, where they discussed future activities and ways for cooperation in the field of culture.

Read here the press release of the Municipality of Blagoevgrad.