The eleventh edition of “The World is for All” Festival for people with disabilities, organized by the “Brave Heart” Association, is taking place today and tomorrow in Ruse.

“Krasi” Mayonnaise Factory and “Hissar” Mineral Water are traditional partners of the initiative and support the prevention of the social exclusion of people with disabilities and the change of attitude towards the others, as well as the change of their own self-esteem and the motivation to fully participate in life.

The first day is designated for a concert by children with special needs, with the enrolled participants being 196 – 109 girls and 87 boys. The older participants will perform in the concert on November 30th. They are a total of 315 people, 247 women and 68 men respectively. An exhibition bazaar will also take place during the two days.

36 disability associations and organizations, with a total of 181 participants, will present their activities through paintings, Christmas toys, greeting cards, tapestries, souvenirs and many more at improvised display stands.

On the National Enlighteners’ Day, young local researchers from around the country gathered at the Earth and Man National Museum to lay the foundations of the Friends Through Folklore Online Library. Unlike most libraries, the creators of this one are children and adolescents. They have been researching the Bulgarian cultural heritage for almost one year in all its ethnic diversity, including folklore samples of the larger minority communities in our country – Romani, Turks, Armenians and Jews.

More than 300 children, youths, and juniors from Sofia and the country participated in the research activities. They asked the older people of the families in the village many questions, looked for archival materials in libraries and museums. They sent the collected materials for participation in the Young Local Researcher Contest. The Sofia High School of Mathematics has been marked as taking part with the largest number of participants. Many interesting materials were presented also by the St. St. Cyril and Methodius Secondary School – town of Yakoruda, the Dimcho Debelyanov Secondary School – town of Sofia, the Stefan Karadzha Public Library – village of Bisertsi, a team of the Gyunesh Society for Cultural Relations with Turkey, the town of Ruse, and many others as well. Children living in Spain and Ukraine also participated.

“An electronic library is a field for education and expression through the culture of our ancestors”, the manager of the project Dr. Liliya Stareva says. “It is the search, collection, and appreciation of folk wisdom, its revival in the present day. And at the same time, it is a model of social inclusion of children and youths from minority groups and communities through their involvement in collecting and research activities in the field of cultural and historical heritage. That’s why one of the name’s ingredients is ‘Friends'”.

During the celebration there was also a festive concert at the museum in honour of the National Enlighteners. The programme included folklore performances by different groups and ethnicities and awards ceremony for the Young Local Researcher Contest winners.

The celebration is part of the idea of friendship through folklore, of getting to know the values of the cultural heritage of different ethnic groups in Bulgaria. The Young Local Researcher Contest and the electronic library are organized by The Child and The Folklore Foundation with the partnership of Roden Kray – 1931 Public Library and the financial support of the Social Innovation Programme of Sofia Municipality. The event was supported also by “Hissar” Mineral Water. In her welcome speech to the participants, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science Karina Angelieva praised the idea and expressed the Ministry’s support for activities related to the study of Bulgarian folklore wealth.

For the first time in over 30 years Bulgaria has hosted the Balkan Wrestling Championship.

Arena-Assarel Hall in Panagyurishte witnessed the Balkan Wrestling Championship for girls, boys, male and female cadets. The prestigious competition took place between October 1st to October 6th and was traditionally supported by “Hissar” Mineral Water, which provided water for all participants and the organizers of the competition.

The battles took place on three wrestling mats located in the 2000-seat hall. The talented adolescent national wrestlers of Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Greece, Turkey, and North Macedonia have shown high potential for serious development. Our freestyle juniors became first in the team rankings at the Balkan Championship in Panagyurishte. The team won 17 medals, 4 of which are gold. Our young talents got second place in other ages and styles. The championship was organized for male and female youths, boys and girls, and male and female cadets, in freestyle and classic style. More than 400 competitors from 8 countries participated in the battles.

The orientation competition for “Plovdiv” Cup 2018 is included in the calendar and is organized under the aegis of the Bulgarian Federation of Orientation. More than 250 competitors from more than 20 sport clubs from the whole country took part in it.
Elite competitors such as Antoaneta Dyaksova, Stefaniya Dimitrova, Boyan Ivandzhikov, Nikolay Dimitrov and Zdravko Taralov competed along the “Plovdiv” Cup routes.
The competition consisted of several stages. It started on 29 September with a sprint on Mladezhki halm hill. On 30 September the competition continued with medium distance in the region of Hizha Zdravets hut in Rhodopi Park.
The “Living water” brand was specially secured for the competition. All participants could quench their thirst and freshen with a bottle of “Living water” while covering the tracks. This water is of extremely low mineralization – just 10mg/l. The mineral salts get filtered from the crystal clear waters via the reverse osmosis method which removes 90% of them. Thus the “Living water” brand is the right choice for every day consumption or during sports.