The very first edition of the Bulgarian Culture Festival in Brussels turned into a veritable celebration of the arts and a string of emotional encounters of Bulgarians living in the capital of Belgium. Each event in its programme is selected so as to present what is new and interesting in the country’s cultural calendar.

Organizer of the festival is the Diogenes cultural centre, founded by Zlatina Rousseva who is its director. Director of documentary films, she is also organizer of the Millennium International Documentary Film Festival in Brussels.

“We made up our minds to make this fifth edition of the Bulgarian Culture Festival a particularly festive occasion and lined up a very ambitious programme that encompasses the full range of the arts – music, theatre, children’s shows, cinema,” says Zlatina Rousseva and adds:

“I think the opening of the festival on 30 September was especially thrilling, with the screening of Atanas Kiryakov’s movie “Barter”. That same night we also presented “Love is folly” (the first Bulgarian film that has come down to us, created in 1917.) But the highlight of the festival was the evening dedicated to archive Bulgarian films and the first Bulgarian documentary “In the kingdom of roses.” Boyan Vodenicharov – one of Bulgaria’s foremost pianists – provided the live musical accompaniment. There are some 15,000 Bulgarians living in Brussels. They and their children need to have a bond with Bulgarian culture. The festival has become a venue where they can meet other Bulgarians and trace their roots. The new addition this year were the shows for children. For a long time I have wanted to do something for Bulgarian children, born or living here, children of mixed marriages. At an age when their individuality and their values are being moulded, they live in-between cultures and languages. My idea was to give them a sense of belonging and to show them there is reason to feel proud. At the first children’s event the hall was packed, there were even children on the stage. For the second play we planned two shows, one after the other, but still it was difficult to seat everyone who had come to watch. The children were really happy, they learnt new things, they heard old words which are out of use among Bulgarian emigrants. But our greatest reward was to see happiness in the eyes of the children, to hear them shouting: More, More!”

“Unborn maiden” and “At the water well” were the children’s plays the festival team selected. Both are part of Bulgaria’s fairytale and music tradition. Students from the Lyubomir Pipkov National Music School in Sofia also presented Bulgaria’s musictradition. Actress Boyka Velkova staged her monodrama “Aphrodite’s road”. The organizers say this was the only cultural event in Brussels on 21 November. All other events were cancelled because of the highest terror alert and lockdown in Brussels. “I would like to express my gratitude to Boyka Velkova and to all those who came to see the play,” says Zlatina Rousseva. According to the preliminary programme, the festival is scheduled to close on 26 November with Kostadin Bonev’s film “Five stories of one execution”, dedicated to poet Nikola Vaptsarov, to be followed by a literary evening, presenting Ivayla Alexandrova’s book “Red”. Mrs. Rousseva says she is happy to say that Belgian national TV agreed to show the Bulgarian film “The long road home”, produced by Ivan Nichev and directed by Boryana Pouncheva. Besides the film, it will also give coverage to the Bulgarian Culture Festival in Brussels. The highlight will be the centennial anniversary of Bulgarian filmmaking – a jubilee the screenings during the forum will be dedicated to. They are taking place with the support of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, the Bulgarian embassy in Belgium and the Bulgarian National Film Archive.