My father, young and strong,

Manful and sincere,

His buoyancy infectious,

He brings us light and cheer

That was a verse from a poem entitled “My father” written in 1974 by Petya Dubarova, an acclaimed poetess from Bourgas who left this world at the tender age of 17. It is because the father is such an important figure in our lives that the Lale (tulip) Foundation organizes a string of events this year to mark Father’s Day, June 19.

Father’s Day, which falls on the third Sunday of June, is celebrated in over 50 countries. It can be traced back to Washington DC where it originated at the turn of the 20th century as a parallel to Mother’s Day (the second Sunday of May). In the Christian Orthodox calendar Father’s Day is on 26 December – St. Joseph’s Day. In catholic tradition it falls on 19 March.

“That is when it is observed in religion. We now live in a different kind of society that is more variegated, a society in which people, whatever their religion or ethnicity, level of education or social standing need to have one single date for it. That was, in fact, how Father’s Day started,” explains Maria Petkova, chair of the Lale Foundation. What matters is that this is a day that brings people together instead of dividing them, she adds.

In 2012, the Lale Foundation joined the national Being a father campaign, as part of the international MenCare – a global fatherhood campaign, taking place in 20 different countries.

Bulgaria is the first country of Central Europe where the campaign took root, with 10 civic organizations taking up the cause of offering different ways for a positive, active and committed involvement of men in the life of children and in parenthood. Here is Maria Petkova about the reasons why her team decided to back the Being a father campaign.

“We joined this campaign very vigorously and were among the people who launched it here, in Bulgaria, because in our long systematic work we were constantly being told that Bulgaria was short on resources – money, opportunities etc. So, at one point we started asking ourselves – OK, if money and opportunity is limited, where can we find the resource? And that led us to the idea of fathers. Fathers and men are a huge resource in the social and educational sphere, in raising the children, in all parts of our lives, but they are frequently in the role of onlookers and are not sufficiently involved. That was how the idea for this campaign came into being. In the past few years we have been endeavoring to demonstrate just how important the father figure is as children are growing up, as their self-confidence is molded, as they evolve into adults. How important all fathers, grand-fathers, uncles and big brothers are in all spheres, at any given point in the life of children. And to make Father’s Day more enjoyable for young and old alike, we are organizing events with different partners – galleries, museums, the police, the fire department. This year our campaign kicked off on 13 June at The Plume literary club at the National Palace of Culture, where we opened a thematic exhibition - Being a father, organized together with the Palace,” says Maria.

A special video for the Being a father campaign is being screened at the Palace throughout the week. Interesting events are also being organized in other towns across the country. They all aim to stimulate a dialogue, understanding, togetherness, to help people hear out one another, says Maria Petkova and adds:

“When we starting out three years ago many people said to me there was no point in doing something like this - We can’t bring in mothers, never mind fathers coming, they said. And just a few months later my colleagues were saying – What we are doing is such a good thing. The very first year we officially marked Father’s Day there were many fathers who came, they had a lot of fun, and at the end of the day when we packed up to go, they stayed behind. Fathers are ready and willing to be part of their children’s lives. What we want to do together is find different ways to provoke them because their involvement is so important to them, to their children, to all members of their family.”

English version: Milena Daynova