site.btaYambol Gives European Union New Holiday, Says BTA Director General at Europe on Balkans Conference

Yambol has given a new holiday to the European Union, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said at the opening of a local conference under BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project. The conference was held at the BTA National Press Club here on Thursday, on the opening day of the 26th edition of the Kukerlandia International Masquerade Festival.

"This festival, which combines the local (Yambol), the national (Bulgarian) and the regional (Balkan) with participants from other Balkan countries, is already European as evidence of the preservation of diversity in unity, which is the motto of the EU - United in Diversity," Valchev pointed out. He noted that there are unique holidays in Bulgaria, which have also become part of the pan-European holiday calendar, such as May 24, when Bulgarians celebrate the Day of Education and Culture and the Cyrillic alphabet, adding that this is the alphabet that Bulgaria gave to the EU.

"Holidays like Kukerlandia in Yambol are an occasion for heartfelt communication, for sharing against the backdrop of alienation between people in other places in Europe. Because more important than the holidays on the calendar are the holidays in the soul," Valchev stressed, adding that the holiday carries a deeper meaning than just joy, namely the preparation for self-restraint, humility and patience during fasting, which is needed by some too consumerist, mercantile, oversatisfied modern Europeans.

"And because the last day of Kukerlandia is precisely on Sirni Zagovezni, when we forgive each other in a Christian way, this holiday in Yambol is a reminder for the rest of the EU that good relations between people are most important," Valchev pointed out, adding that all the investments in infrastructure and all the knowledge acquired thanks to common European money will not be able to bring people closer together if they do not have love for each other.

Valchev emphasised that the beginning of the masquerade games in Europe was set precisely in the Balkans with the weeks dedicated by the ancient Greeks to the god of wine Dionysus at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, as well as the Thracian Kukeri festivals in the spring.

He also noted that thanks to the opening of BTA's National Press Club in Yambol in 2022, the town has been part of the general national and European conversations for almost three years now. He added that BTA has tripled its national press clubs and preserved and developed the 14 press clubs opened in the previous 18 years, so that the agency currently has a total of 42 national press clubs.

"We usually hear that Bulgaria receives money from the EU and what remains in our minds is that only we Bulgarians are the ones who benefit from our participation in the EU, but the truth is that the EU also benefits from Bulgarians, just as it benefits from other European nations," Valchev concluded.

BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project aims to raise public awareness and foster open dialogue about cohesion policy, local achievements, and the implementation of the EU's policy priorities. The project kicked off with a conference in Veliki Preslav in November 2024. Until September 2025, BTA will host discussions at its press clubs in the following cities: Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kazanlak, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Razgrad, Ruse, Samokov, Svishtov, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Stara Zagora, Troyan, Targovishte, Haskovo, Shumen, and Yambol. Cross-border conferences will be held in Belgrade, Bosilegrad, Bucharest, Edirne, Skopje, and Thessaloniki. The project builds on the Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future and Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future projects, implemented by BTA in 2023 and 2024, respectively.