Balgarianovinite.com Hosted by the Sts Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian School in Paris, the 10th Az Buki Vedi International Bulgarian Reading Contest for First- and Second-Grade Pupils Abroad brought together 56 children from 27 Bulgarian schools in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
This year’s edition was held under the auspices of Bulgarian Ambassador to France Radka Balabanova-Ruleva. The competition, founded by the Az Buki Vedi Bulgarian Sunday School in Cologne, was supported financially by Bulgaria’s Ministry of Education and Science. The Bulgarian News Agency is the competition’s official media partner.
Before the official opening, children’s author Tsveta Brestnichka met with participants and signed books at a book stand set up in the school courtyard as part of the accompanying programme. A second stand, featuring Bulgarian books provided by the Artavenir Foundation, was also set up.
The opening ceremony featured a theatrical performance by the school’s drama club, a musical performance by the children’s vocal group Kitchitsa, and greetings from previous winners.
Throughout the day, children also took part in games, creative workshops, and themed photo corners. Activities included decorating glass jars, creating artwork inspired by favourite literary characters, making cardboard flower bouquets, turning letters of the Bulgarian alphabet into artistic compositions, and painting seashells.
Participants also created a fingerprint tree, which was presented as a gift to Rositsa Bayraktarski, principal of the Az Buki Vedi Bulgarian Sunday School in Cologne.
During the event, actress Vanya Doneva presented the project “Learning Language through Art” to representatives of Bulgarian schools abroad. Together with actress Irina Georgieva, she also performed The Tinderbox.
Dimitrinka Niklina of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian School in Dortmund accepted the statuette symbolizing the hosting rights for the 11th edition of the competition and announced that next year’s event will take place on June 26.
A draw was also held to determine the host of the 2028 edition. The competition will then be organized by the Sts Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Sunday School in Regensburg, Germany.
The competition itself consisted of three rounds.
In the first round, participants read a familiar text from their first- or second-grade Bulgarian reading textbook. All contestants advanced to the second round, where they read an unfamiliar prose text. Those selected by the four-member jury progressed to the final round, in which they read an unfamiliar text in verse. The jury was chaired by Prof. Zhivka Koleva-Zlateva and also included Associate Professor Iliyana Chekova-Dimitrova, writer Brestnichka, and Valentina Stoeva, founder of the Children’s Books Foundation, which promotes reading.
Following the final round, the jury announced the winners for first and second grade, as well as one runner-up in each grade.
Nikolas Hulala of the Hristo Botev Bulgarian Secondary School in Bratislava and Lea Todorova of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian School in Paris were crowned “King” and “Queen” of the Letters. The awards were presented by Milena Dimitrova, Secretary to the Bulgarian President for Culture, Education, and Relations with Bulgarians Abroad, who also read a congratulatory message from head of State Iliana Iotova.
The title “Lord of the Letters” was awarded to first-grader Filip Nisteya of the St Prince Boris I Bulgarian Sunday School in Aachen and second-grader Viktor Stoyanov of the Hristo Botev Bulgarian School in Cheltenham.
All participants received the distinction “Guardian of the Letters.”
Awards were also presented by Elisaveta Belobradova, Deputy Chair of the parliamentary Committee on Policies for Bulgarians Abroad; Education and Science Minister Prof. Georgi Valchev; Raina Mandzhukova, Executive Director of the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad; Ambassador Radka Balabanova-Ruleva; Rositsa Bayraktarski, representing the competition’s founding school in Cologne; Dimitar Abrashev, a member of the Bulgarian National Radio Management Board; and Kamelia Triboulin-Konaktchieva on behalf of the host school.
The competition concluded with a group photo and a performance by the Zora Folk Ensemble based in Paris.
The competition’s inaugural edition was organized by Lyubomir Lyubomirov and Rositsa Bayraktarski in 2017. Over the years, the event has been hosted by Bulgarian schools in Munster, Mannheim, Aachen, Bad Lippspringe, Armagh, Koblenz, and London, with all editions organized in partnership with the Az Buki Vedi school in Cologne. During the COVID-19 pandemic, two editions were held online. 10th Bulgarian Reading Contest Held in Paris 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-06-28 19:35:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law