Optimism for Bulgaria

The Danube is also an explorer’s heaven: the more you discover, the more there is to explore. Just when you think you have gotten to know it, the river throws a marvelous surprise your way, particularly if you venture out of the grand cities and major natural parks.

If it’s variety you are after, look no further than Vratsa Balkan Adventure Festival. Northwestern Bulgaria’s first ever culture and nature festival, on July 1–4, is a great way to kick off the summer after the privations of the past year and pack as many activities as you can in a long weekend. 

The first edition of Northwest Bulgaria Bike Tour took place on Saturday, May 29, 2021, with support from the America for Bulgaria Foundation and several municipalities, and attracted nearly 400 participants and their families, making it the biggest road bike event ever held in Bulgaria.

In 2019, the visitor center built to house the Bishop’s Basilica mosaics was nearing completion, and the outdoor spaces had to be secured to ensure visitors’ safe passage. Little did site workers know that lifting and turning one of the larger paving stones would reveal one of the most important documents about the pre-Christian history of the site and of Philippopolis itself.

For the past 13 years, the AGORA Platform has been uniting communities in Bulgaria in aid of local causes and supporting their efforts to solve problems together. In cooperation with chitalishta, civic organizations, cultural institutions, business associations, and municipalities, and with the long-term support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation and other partners, the AGORA Platform has been a catalyst for the success of hundreds of local initiatives nationwide.

Knigovishte proves that reading and screen time need not be in conflict. In fact, the online educational platform relies on children’s love of screens and games to help them become better readers.

The route from Western Europe to Istanbul has passed through the Bulgarian town of Harmanli for centuries, and locals have long provided food and shelter to passing travelers—a tradition reflected in the town’s name.

Giving and altruism were an important part of life in Oryahovo and Bulgaria before 1944 and helped build many of the country’s major institutions, according to the book A Window to Goodwill, a chronicle of philanthropic initiatives in the Danubian city from the 1870s to the mid-twentieth century.

Dimana Trankova is an archaeologist by education and a journalist by vocation. She joined Vagabond Media in 2006 and is currently an editor at Vagabond, Bulgaria’s English-language magazine, where she writes about travel and local culture in Bulgaria, the Balkans, and beyond. She is a coauthor of a series of non-fiction books and guidebooks on the historical, archaeological, and cultural heritage of Bulgaria in English and Bulgarian, and the author of the novels The Smile of the Dog (2014) and The Empty Cave (2017).