These days the center of the town of Momchilgrad was unusually busy. Despite the scorching sun over the Eastern Rhodopes, people born and raised in the town and now living in different parts of the world came to see old friends from childhood and share their nostalgia for their homeland. Here is more from Mehmed Mehmed, senior expert Public Relations at Momchilgrad municipality:

"This is a double, and perhaps triple, feast for us as our countrymen arrived here from different parts of Bulgaria and the world to celebrate Ramazan Bayrami with their relatives, and to participate in the Fifth International Meeting of Momchilgrad residents. This event is quite interesting, held for the fifth consecutive year. The goal is to attract our fellow citizens scattered in different corners of the world to come here, get together and celebrate their holidays together. They arrived from Turkey, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, USA, and we have guests from Greece. We also invited guests from our twin communities from Turkey and Greece."

In previous years, more than 5 to 6 thousand Momchilgrad residents gathered for this meeting, but this year the town welcomed far more guests. The varied festive program lasted for a week, from July 28 to August 3. Many interesting events accompanied the holiday Ramazan Bayrami, the town feast and the Fifth International Meeting of Momchilgrad residents. These include concerts by local amateur groups, a performance of Kadrie Lyatifova Music Teather with the theatre-music centre in the town of Kardzhali, a poetry reading dedicated to Nazim Hikmet. And more: competitions in table tennis, Bridge, darts, hunting shooting, wrestling and streetball, the culinary exhibition "Traditions are alive", an exhibition of beekeepers in the region "The honey sweetness of the Eastern Rhodopes", the presentation of donuts and pancakes from “Grandma's kitchen”.

At the charity evening organized by the Association of Momchilgrad residents in Bursa (north-western Turkey), an exhibition was unveiled of paintings by local artist Kamber Kamber, also of felt products made by Ekaterina and Gurkan Sadula and a collection of minerals and precious stones of mineralogy expert Petar Zapryanov. The celebrations were attended also by the female choir of the Municipality of Nilüfer from Bursa and the amateur dance group at the Rhodopean Lighthouse National Cultural Center. On August 3, the female choir performed a charity concert in Kardzhali in support of the municipal hospital in Momchilgrad.

It should be noted that although they live and work in different parts of Bulgaria and the world, people born in Momchilgrad live with the problems of their town. So far, donations to the tune of € 100 thousand have been raised. These funds will be used to buy medical equipment for the four wards of the fully renovated hospital.

It is everyone's hope that the meeting could turn into a long-standing tradition because wherever located in the world, Momchilgrad residents always crave their native region, as they invariably keep abreast of the events in the town and in Bulgaria. And, as senior expert Mehmed Mehmed excitedly explains, "We may be located in different parts of the world, but we are all united by Momchilgrad, the common cause of the town's development and our love for Bulgaria".

English: Rossitsa Petcova