Over 40 Municipalities to Mark Marriage Week with Festivals, Competitions, and Vow Renewals

Over 40 municipalities will participate in this year's Marriage Week campaign, which is observed between February 7th and 14th. Photo contests and exhibitions are part of the events that will accompany the initiative. In some municipalities, there will be festivals dedicated to love.

Among the traditional events are weddings or the renewal of wedding vows. Mayors will personally congratulate those getting married. It is planned in some cities, including Kozloduy, Momchilgrad, Svoge, and others, to waive administrative fees for getting married during the week. Anniversary celebrations of family anniversaries are organized in Ardino, Belogradchik, Bratsigovo, Valchi Dol, Kozloduy, Kostinbrod, Lovech, and Stara Zagora. In other cities, including Varna and Stara Zagora, they will send special congratulatory addresses and gifts to the couples who will get married during the initiative. In the "Yuzhen" district in Plovdiv and in the "Vrabnitsa" district in Sofia, they will congratulate large families. This initiative will also be celebrated in Ardino, Valchi Dol, Gorna Oryahovitsa.

In Ruse, there will be a video contest "We are still together and we are in Ruse", in which couples will share their story and love for the city. In the center, there will be a photo frame "Together in Ruse", the oldest married couple will be awarded. Gurkovo will realize a children's exhibition "The Family Through My Eyes" and will place a love bench in the park. Kozloduy organizes a photo contest "Before and Now", in which families will present a wedding and current photo, and the winners will receive a romantic dinner for two. Panagyurishte will gather couples with the longest and most recent marriage for a conversation about the values of the Bulgarian family. Sozopol will host the national festival "Love is a Beautiful Romance". In Stara Zagora, there will be an online competition on Facebook - "The place where our family life began". In many municipalities, there will also be children's competitions.

Marriage Week has been observed in Bulgaria since 2012. This is an international initiative, which is celebrated every year in 30 countries around the world, the organizers also point out. Its goal is to encourage couples to spend time with each other, to strengthen intimacy and to build stable, loving, and sustainable relationships.

The initiative does not aim to force people to get married, it celebrates a healthy marriage and encourages couples to pay attention to their partners, said for BTA at a previous edition of Marriage Week Mihaela Dzhorgova, coordinator of the initiative team.