The beautiful Balkan town of Apriltsi will host on May 9 – 11 the first edition of a unique art fest with the participation of several generations and representatives of different genres of art. May 9 is actually the fest of Apriltsi, when the memory of those, who died during the 1876 April Uprising is paid homage to. Apriltsi is a relatively young town, established in 1976 via the merging of 4 old settlements with their names written down in Bulgarian history.  Apriltsi is a synonym of heroism and self-sacrifice. At the same time it is a contemporary dynamic center of tourism and arts.  We decided to give life to the artistic side of the classic expression Town of Heroes, the organizers write in the official invitation. “3x3x3 is the formula that constructs the event. In other words – three artists invite their colleagues within the frameworks of three days. Artist Martina Karaivanova, sculptor Stefan Liutakov and musician Todor Kotopanov were the initiators, selecting the persons and events within the different directions. Famous artist Vladimir Avramov, who is an honorary citizen of Apriltsi, is the coordinator of the entire project. He also gave the idea, described like that:

“We wanted a new art to be created, inspired by the heroism and significance of the spot, but transformed through contemporary vision. This is an art festival, which brings together music, painting and sculpture. Renown names work with their students and even with children. We have the ambition and will to attract as many art fans as possible, as we have selected common subjects that provide a chance for mixture of genres and forms. All musicians from all genres will perform during the final concert a popular renaissance song. Martina Karaivanova is preparing the creation of a large canvas, where color will be the emotional carrier of a deployment in five different gammas. Kids from the town, involved in drawing, will implement the same idea, but on a smaller scale. We have also invited students from the High School of Arts from the town of Troyan, situated nearby.”

Todor Kotopanov has tried to seize a large palette of styles. The young bass says he is a classical musician, who loves to explore new things:

“Several genres are combined within the music program. We have invited the April Bells children’s vocal band for local folklore, in order to get closer to the spirit of the fest. The kids have been working with the Episode rock band for 10 years now. We expect their compositions, based on folklore, presented along with the children. We will listen to a very interesting band with its own style of ethno jazz yet the first day – Zhivko Vasilev Trio. Of course, there will be classical music too – famous violinist Prof. Yosif Radionov will perform beloved world classical pieces, accompanied by Zornitsa Radionova. We will listen to accordion player Yulia Todorova as well. We have prepared a concert, named Anthology of Opera together with pianist Magdalena Vasileva, presenting famous works, preceded by short stories about the composer, the époque, along with some curious details.”

Several other dancing formations and the Zaedno brass orchestra will step onto the stage in Apriltsi. The fest will kick off with a liturgy, procession and a pray, served by Lovech Metropolitan Gavraiil. Recreations of historic battles have also been envisaged. On May 11 the guests will see all the paintings and sculptures, created within the forum. The slogan of the fest is Apriltsi Inspires and Todor adds that he is sure that the beauty of the nature and the friendly citizens of the town will inspire the participants…

English version: Zhivko Stanchev