At the end of the summer the Bulgarian art elite meets in the coastal town of Sozopol within the frameworks of the Apollonia Festival of Arts. This year is more special for the organizers of the event, because Sozopol hosts the jubilee 35^th edition of the festival. During the festival days between August 29 and September 7 the citizens and guests of Sozopol will meet some of the most renowned figures in music, theater, art, literature, ballet and other fields. The festival gained huge popularity through the years, which is due to the efforts of the organizers to show the most talented artists and their achievement to the public.

The programme of this year’s edition of Apollonia Festival of Arts begins with a jubilee show dedicated to the 50^th anniversary since the foundation of Arabesque Ballet. The festival programme includes over 70 topical cultural events. Bulgarian opera diva Alexandrina Pendatchanska, jazz singers Hilda Kazasyan and Vassil Petrov, pianist and composer Zhivko Petrov, the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band, the famous rock bands FSB, BTR and the Foundation will perform during the festival days.

The audience and the artists themselves have been the true recognition of the festival over the past 35 years. The festival programme enables the audience to see in Sozopol their favorite actors, writers, poets and all artists who had some remarkable performances during the year, Margarita Dimitrova, Artistic Director of Apollonia Festival of Arts told Radio Bulgaria:

The Apollonia Festival of Arts has been a festival of perseverance and love in arts for 35 years. The coastal town fills with people when the festive events begin, which is a great achievement. In the recent years, many Bulgarians, mainly musicians, have been working around the world. I don’t know whether we should call them Bulgarian artists or artists of world renown. In fact, they present our art to the world and show what they have learnt in Bulgaria. For instance, Bulgaria’s opera diva Alexandrina Pendatchanska started her first master class in Sozopol several days ago. I hope that she will manage to pass her experience down to her younger colleagues. Unfortunately, she does not live permanently in Bulgaria. Stanislav Hvarchilkov who is a brilliant guitarist has been living in England for years. He teaches guitar and creates his music pieces there. Stanislav will also hold a concert during the festival days. These are only some of the Bulgarians who popularize and promote Bulgarian culture abroad.

Margarita Dimitrova accentuated on another important event included in the festival programme-the concert of Bulgarian piano virtuoso Ludmil Angelov, violinist Javan Bogosavljevic, guitarist Tsvetan Nedyalkov, Margarita Kalcheva-double bass and Matías González-bandoneon. They will perform pieces by Astor Piazzolla. The concert is scheduled for August 31 and is expected to attract huge audience. Each year, many people who live and work abroad come especially for our festival in Sozopol. Many foreign nationals also like to follow the programme of Apollonia Festival of Arts, Margarita Dimitrova went on to say and added:

Unfortunately, no new concert halls or theater stages that would match the high level of the festival have been built in the past 35 years in Sozopol. That is why tickets sell out quickly, because the concert halls are small. Even the amphitheater, which is the most spacious area, has only 600 seats. The classical music hall has 100 seats only and some people are standing during the performances. However, we cannot tell the people who come and enjoy the festival each year to leave. 

English version: Kostadin Atanasov