Concert at the Opera, "Fairy-Tale Night" in libraries and chitalishte, and on Sunday the holiday coincides with the presidential run-off

Ten soloists from Opera Burgas will sing in the Opera foyer today, 31 October, at 7pm to mark National Revival Figures' Day. From this evening until Sunday, libraries and chitalishte across the region will open their doors for "Fairy-Tale Night". The holiday itself, 1 November, falls on a Sunday in 2026, the same day as the presidential run-off.

A holiday since 1922

On 1 November Bulgaria honours its educators, writers and revolutionaries, among them Paisius of Hilendar, Vasil Levski and Ivan Vazov.

The first celebration, still unofficial, took place in Plovdiv in 1909. In 1922, education minister Stoyan Omarchevski took up an earlier idea from a group of intellectuals and put a proposal for a state holiday to the Council of Ministers. Parliament passed the law on 13 December 1922, and Tsar Boris III signed the decree on 3 February 1923. The holiday was banned in 1945. It returned on 28 October 1992, when the 36th National Assembly amended the Labour Code.

That is why pupils get the day off. Article 154, paragraph 1 of the Labour Code says: "1 November - National Revival Figures' Day - a non-attendance day for all educational institutions". In practice, kindergartens, schools and universities hold no classes that day.

The programme for 31 October and 1 November

Saturday, 31 October

  • 6pm Carnival evening with fairy-tale characters at the library of the "Asen Zlatarov 1940" chitalishte. Entry is free.
  • 7pm Vocal concert by soloists of Opera Burgas in the Opera foyer. Ten soloists will sing, with three pianists accompanying. Tickets are on sale at the Opera box office (the "Clock" box office), and on Grabo and Eventim. The price has not been announced.
  • In the evening "Fairy-Tale Night in the Library" in Burgas region. The Regional Chitalishte Council of the Union of National Chitalishte is organising it, under the patronage of the regional governor and Burgas council. The Peyo Yavorov Regional Library and the Regional History Museum are also taking part, but no times have been announced for events there.

Sunday, 1 November

  • "Fairy-Tale Night in the Library" continues in chitalishte across the region.
  • No official ceremonies or flower-laying in Burgas have been announced so far. The Burgas council cultural calendar lists only "National Revival Figures' Day" for 1 November, with no time or place.

The Regional History Museum in Burgas has no free entry for the holiday. It lets visitors in without a ticket on 6 December, 3 March and on Museum Night, and it is closed on Sundays. Until 6 November it offers a talk, "The Revival Figures of Burgas", at 31 Lermontov Street, but only by prior booking.

Pomorie marked the holiday as early as 30 October, with a torchlit procession from the courtyard of the St George the Victorious monastery and concerts at the "Svetlina 1939" and "Prosveta 1888" chitalishte. We found no published programme for Nessebar or Sozopol.

Bas-relief of St George on the church of the Pomorie Monastery, Bulgaria, photographed on 9 April 2010
Bas-relief of St George on the church of the Pomorie Monastery, Bulgaria, photographed on 9 April 2010. Photo: Vassia Atanassova - Spiritia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

In Burgas, pupils also took to the streets on 30 October. Hundreds of pupils and teachers walked through the centre with torches, to the sound of a brass band, and stopped in front of the council building. The procession has now been held for 11 years in a row. More on the procession.

The Burgas council building, photographed on 1 April 2008
The Burgas council building, photographed on 1 April 2008. Photo: Original uploader was Nasomatrix at bg.wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

School break, work and the run-off

Because 1 November is a Sunday, 2 November becomes the day off from school. Under an order by education minister Prof Georgi Valchev, the autumn break runs from 31 October to 2 November inclusive, and pupils go back to class on 3 November.

For everyone else, 1 November is not an official day off. The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy says it is a non-attendance day only for educational institutions. When it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the next working day does not automatically become a day off. The "Education" Union at the "Podkrepa" Confederation of Labour disagrees and wants 2 November to be a day off for teachers too.

On Sunday, Burgas region also votes in the presidential run-off between Iliana Yotova and Andrey Gyurov. The region has received 653 voting machines, which will be spread across nearly 750 polling stations. Members of polling station commissions are being replaced before election day. Georgi Mihov, chairman of the regional election commission, put the figure at "maybe 10%, which is not a small figure".

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