International Vulture Awareness Day to Be Celebrated Once Again with a Festival in Madzharovo

On the first Saturday of September (5 September), Madzharovo will once again host a festival celebrating International Vulture Awareness Day. The programme features birdwatching, author talks, creative workshops for children, educational activities, exhibitions, a concert, and a local producers’ market.

The celebration will begin at 9:00 a.m. with a birdwatching session at the Eastern Rhodopes Nature Conservation Centre of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB/BirdLife Bulgaria). Throughout the day, activities will continue in Madzharovo Town Park, where visitors will have the opportunity to meet the Hazel Dormouse, the mascot of local conservation initiatives, and take part in a reading and discussion with Emiliya Vacheva and Yana Kazakova about their children’s book Following the Adventures of Vitan the Toad and His Friends. Creative workshops for children will also be held.

In the afternoon, Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation and the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds will organise educational and adventure games dedicated to wildlife and biodiversity conservation.

The evening programme will conclude with a concert at N. Y. Vaptsarov Community Centre, featuring Bay Arsen – the Bard of Borislavtsi, Kristina Topalova (KEYA) and the band Kartal.

Throughout the day, visitors will also be able to explore the exhibition The Return of the Vultures to the Rhodope Mountains, visit local producers’ stalls at the Madzharovo Market, and take part in the Open Day at the BSPB Eastern Rhodopes Nature Conservation Centre. The centre will screen the documentary Wings over the Mountains, along with other films dedicated to vultures and their conservation.

International Vulture Awareness Day is celebrated every year on the first Saturday of September through events aimed at raising public awareness of the crucial role vultures play as nature’s clean-up crew and the importance of protecting these remarkable birds.

The festival is part of the project “Restoration of the Cinereous vulture population and trophic chain in the Bulgarian-Greek cross-border region,” (Project No. 101148254 — LIFE23-NAT-BG-LIFE Rhodope Vulture), co-financed by the LIFE program of the European Union and Rewilding Europe, and implemented by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) in partnership with the Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation. The celebration is also supported by the project “From Iron Curtain to Green Belt: Restoring Ecological Networks in Southeast Bulgaria”, financed under the Endangered Landscapes Programme (ELSP).The full programme is available below.

Programme

09:00 – 10:00 – Birdwatching
Venue: BSPB Eastern Rhodopes Nature Conservation Centre

10:30 – 11:00 – Meet the Hazel Dormouse!

11:00 – 12:00 – Reading and discussion with Emiliya Vacheva and Yana Kazakova: Following the Adventures of Vitan the Toad and His Friends

12:00 – 13:00 – Creative workshop with Yana Kazakova: Drawing and Discovering Nature

13:00 – 13:30 – Meet the Hazel Dormouse!

Venue: Madzharovo Town Park (corner of Petar Angelov Street and Kapitan Petko Voyvoda Street)

13:30 – 15:00 – Lunch break

15:00 – 18:00 – Wild Adventures with Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation and the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds

Venue: Madzharovo Town Park (corner of Petar Angelov Street and Kapitan Petko Voyvoda Street)

20:00 – 23:00 – Concert Programme

• Bay Arsen – the Bard of Borislavtsi
• Kristina Topalova (KEYA)
• Kartal Band

Venue: N. Y. Vaptsarov Community Centre, Madzharovo

Throughout the Day

• Exhibition: The Return of the Vultures to the Rhodope Mountains
• Madzharovo Market – stalls featuring local producers
• Open Day at the BSPB Eastern Rhodopes Nature Conservation Centre
• Screenings of the documentary Wings over the Mountains and other films dedicated to vultures and their conservation.