The 3rd of March marked in London by film screening, reception and cultural event
07 March 2018 News
The Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in London marked the National Day of Bulgaria by organizing three separate events, held on March 3rd and 6th of this year. All three ware hosted by the Bulgarian Ambassador to the UK, Konstantin Dimitrov.
The series of events commemorating the Liberation of Bulgaria started with the screening of the film ‘Posoki’ [Directions], directed by Stefan Komandarev, in one of London’s prime movie theaters, the Vue on Leicester Square. The event was opened by Ambassador Dimitrov and the show was followed by a discussion organized for Bulgarian film lovers with the director and part of the cast, including the actors Vassil Banov and Asen Blatechki.
This was followed by the traditional diplomatic dinner reception, honored by over 200 guests. Among the attendees were officials of the Foreign Office and other British institutions, ambassadors and diplomats accredited to the Court of St. James, members of both Houses of the British Parliament, mayors, officials of the International Maritime Organization and other UN bodies headquartered in London; representatives of international NGOs and the private sector. In his welcoming address Ambassador Dimitrov noted that 140 years after its Liberation, Bulgaria celebrates the 3rd of March as the rotational President of the Council of the European Union. The solemn yet festive atmosphere was brightened by the performance of pianist Gabriela Georgieva, who played a piano rendition of the national anthems of Bulgaria and the United Kingdom and went on to perform works by Pancho Vladigerov and other composers.
The National Day of Bulgaria was also marked with a cultural event in the ballrooms of the Embassy, organized jointly with the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in London. Yet another year in a row, more than 200 members of the Bulgarian community and British friends of Bulgaria showed up for the event. The guests were entertained with a monolog by the actor Vassil Banov with excerpts from the one-man show ‘A Tree without Roots’, based on Nikolay Haitov’s ‘Wild Stories’. They also had an opportunity to view a retrospective exhibition of cartoons and caricatures by the great Bulgarian artists and cartoonists Boris Dimovski, part of which were cartoon portraits of the characters of ‘Wild Stories’.
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