In his speech the Consul General Vladislav Spasov mentioned that this year marks the 100th Anniversary of the proclamation of 1 November as an official Bulgarian holiday. On this date according to the old calendar Bulgarians celebrate the day of St. Ivan Rilski – the heavenly patron of the Bulgarian people and state. The Consul General emphasized the significance of the deeds of Paisii Hilendarski, Sofroniy Vrachanski, Vasil Aprilov, Peter Beron, Hristo Botev, Vasil Levski, Lyuben Karavelov, Neophyte Rilski and other National Awakeners from the period of Bulgarian Revival. He quoted the words of Bishop Constantine Preslavski (X c.), that “Naked are the nations without books, powerless to fight without arms against the enemy of our souls” and congratulated our fellow citizens with the National Awakeners’ Day.
As a part of the celebration children from the Bulgarian community in Shanghai recited poetry from Hristo Botev, Petko R. Slaveykov and other Bulgarian authors; our compatriot Mr. Dimitar Vladikov presented his book “Islets of Heaven” (2022).
On 1 November 2022 the Consulate General of Bulgaria in Shanghai organized a celebration of the National Awakeners’ Day in which people from the Bulgarian community, Chinese fiends and foreigners living in the megalopolis took part.
