The most generously funded cultural event in Kaolinovo municipality will once again this year be the festival in the village of Pristoe. The event, scheduled for May, will receive €12,782 (BGN 25,000) from the local budget. By comparison, Kaolinovo Municipality Day in October will receive just €1,022 (BGN 2,000). The allocations were approved by the municipal council at the beginning of the year as part of Kaolinovo’s 2026 cultural calendar.
The traditional gathering in Pristoe commemorates the events of May 1989, when the village saw the first protest against the communist authorities and the so-called Revival Process, during which Bulgarian Turks were subjected to persecution and forced name changes.
Since 1990, the Pristoe festival has grown into a major event featuring horse races and traditional wrestling and has regularly attracted the entire leadership of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS).
After the party split in 2024, the division was reflected in the Pristoe gathering as well. In the last parliamentary elections, the village was the only place in the municipality controlled by Peevski where voters supported Ahmed Dogan. It was therefore hardly surprising that last year’s May commemorations in Pristoe were held on two different dates: Dogan’s supporters gathered on 17 May, while Peevski’s supporters came a day later.
The Dogan camp laid wreaths and flowers at the village memorial plaque and held a short rally attended by almost all of the DPS-Dogan MPs, the party’s then co-chairman Dzhevdet Chakarov and MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk.
“You cannot build democracy with a stick, a cudgel and the state institutions!” Dogan-aligned MPs said, referring to Delian Peevski, who has been sanctioned for corruption by the US and UK. Their comments came a day after the party had been forced out of its headquarters on Alexander Stamboliyski Boulevard in Sofia, where it had been based for 35 years.
The following day, supporters of Peevski gathered at the same memorial plaque in Pristoe. The event was attended by the entire leadership of DPS–New Beginning and its parliamentary group, as well as regional and municipal party chairmen, mayors and municipal councillors.
“Hundreds of residents of Kaolinovo municipality gave their support and trust to the chairman of DPS and the DPS–New Beginning parliamentary group, Delian Peevski, so that he can implement policies for the people,” the organisers declared on the party’s Facebook page.
Unlike the Dogan camp’s rally, the second event was substantially funded by the Kaolinovo municipal budget and continued with the traditional horse races and wrestling, while Peevski’s MPs and activists occupied the stands.
Kaolinovo municipality, headed by DPS–New Beginning deputy chairman Nida Ahmedov, has again ensured substantial funding for the Pristoe festival in 2026. It is by far the most expensive event in the municipality’s cultural calendar, receiving considerably more public money than the other activities.
A modest cultural calendar
Kaolinovo’s cultural calendar itself is modest, with just 23 events scheduled throughout 2026. The municipal council approved the following activities and funding:
21 January 2026 – Babin Den, marking the Day of Maternity Care
14 February 2026 – Trifon Zarezan celebration
19 February 2026 – Wreath-laying ceremony at the monument to Vasil Levski – €256 (BGN 500)
1 March 2026 – International Mother Language Day – €1,022 (BGN 2,000)
1 March 2026 – Baba Marta celebrations – €256 (BGN 500)
8 March 2026 – International Women’s Day – €562 (BGN 1,100)
8 April 2026 – International Roma Day
12 April 2026 – Easter celebrations at community centres and kindergartens
May 2026 – Sports festival in the settlements – €1,022 (BGN 2,000)
May 2026 – Community festival and Pristoe Day – €12,782 (BGN 25,000)
24 May 2026 – Day of Slavic Alphabet and Culture – €1,533 (BGN 3,000)
1 June 2026 – Children’s Day – €1,278 (BGN 2,500)
2 June 2026 – Day of Hristo Botev and those who died for Bulgaria’s freedom
June 2026 – Community festival and Todor Ikonomovo Day – €2,556 (BGN 5,000)
6–9 June 2026 – Kurban Bayram concert in Branichevo – €1,124 (BGN 2,200)
July 2026 – Community festival and Branichevo Day – €7,669 (BGN 15,000)
August 2026 – Miners’ Day – €511 (BGN 1,000)
August 2026 – Community festival and Kliment Day – €7,669 (BGN 15,000)
October 2026 – Kaolinovo Municipality Day – €1,022 (BGN 2,000)
1 November 2026 – Day of the National Revival Leaders
24–26 December 2026 – Christmas celebrations across the settlements – €1,533 (BGN 3,000)
December 2026 – New Year’s bridge tournament in Pristoe – €511 (BGN 1,000)
31 December 2026 – New Year’s Eve celebrations – €1,022 (BGN 2,000)
After the Pristoe festival, the best-funded cultural events in the municipality are the village festivals in Kliment and Branichevo, each receiving BGN 15,000.
Notably absent from the programme are theatre productions, exhibitions, literary competitions and meetings with writers and other artists.
The contrast with neighbouring Novi Pazar is striking. Novi Pazar’s cultural calendar contains more events in March alone than Kaolinovo’s entire annual programme. Its schedule is also far more diverse, including film screenings, theatre performances, exhibitions and literary competitions.
In March, Novi Pazar has 29 events, including celebrations of Bulgaria’s National Day on 3 March – a date that does not appear in Kaolinovo’s cultural calendar.
Alongside traditional Baba Marta celebrations at local community centres, libraries in Novi Pazar mark Amateur Artists’ Day on 1 March and World Writers’ Day on 3 March.
The national holiday is commemorated at municipal events in the villages of Stan and Enevo, at the War Memorial in Zaychino Oreshe and with a ceremonial procession in Novi Pazar.
The month also includes events for Amateur Artists’ Day and International Women’s Day at village community centres and pensioners’ clubs, as well as a literary meeting with writer Ivelina Radionova at the library in Zaychino Oreshe.
In Novi Pazar, a theatre company from Burgas is performing during the month, while an exhibition by artists Petar Kostadinov and Venelin Milanov is also being organised.
Ramadan Bayram is being marked with exhibitions and competitions for the best baklava at community centres in Izbul and Pamukchi. There are also book presentations, quizzes and literary readings for World Fairy Tale Day and World Poetry Day.
For the first day of spring, Novi Pazar municipality has announced a concert by pop singer Lyubo Kirov.
By comparison, Kaolinovo’s cultural calendar contains only three events in March.
