In Bulgaria’s cultural and historical calendar 26 March is the day of Thrace.
Since 1914 it has been marked in memory of the soldiers killed near Edirne in the fields of Thrace, as well as of the tragedy of the thousands of Thracian refugees who found refuge within the bounds of Bulgaria.
On 26 March in 1913 the Edirne fortress was captured during the Balkan war, a day celebrated by the Thracian societies, the army and the church since the 1920s.
In 2006 the Bulgarian government officially proclaimed 26 March Thrace Day.