His Excellency Michael Forbes, Ambassador of Ireland to Sofia is visiting the city of Vidin (Northwestern Bulgaria) on occasion of the 30^th anniversary since the beginning of the Bulgaria-Ireland relations. Ambassador Forbes is to meet with the mayor of Vidin Tsvetan Tsenkov and unveil an exhibition at the regional library Mihalaki Georgiev dedicated to the Irish novelist and short-story writer James Joyce.

James Joyce is famous in Bulgaria and abroad with his novel Ulysses.

The exhibition contains 22 panels with photos and text in English and Bulgarian about the life, travel and creative work of James Joyce. Visitors can watch two films dedicated to Bloomsday during the exhibition.

Ulysses marked the beginning of the tradition Bloomsday, when lovers of this novel gather to celebrate one day of the life of Leopold Bloom, the central character in Ulysses.

June 16 is famous among readers as Bloomsday. This the day the action takes place in the novel Ulysses and the date when Leopold Bloom wanders around Dublin and meets real and imaginary people.

Bloomsday is marked in Dublin for the first time in 1954. Since then, every year fans of James Joyce dress in costumes of the Ulysses era and gather at places described in the book.

This year organized processions did not take place on June 16 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The day was marked with virtual readings of the popular novel in Ireland and Bulgaria. Bloomsday has been celebrated in Bulgaria in the past 4 years at the initiative of His Excellency Ambassador Michael Forbes

The exhibition in Vidin opens on September 11 at 11 am in the regional library Mihalaki Georgiev and will last until the end of September.