HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into the EU. The country joined NATO in 2004.

Plovdiv - 156 km from Sofia, to the southeast
Varna - 470 km from Sofia, to the northeast, at the Black Sea
Burgas - 392 km from Sofia, to the southeast, at the Black Sea

Liberation Day, 3 March
3 March 1878 (Northern Bulgaria becomes an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire);
22 September 1908 (Bulgaria attains complete independence from the Ottoman Empire)

All sundays
1 January - New Year's Celebrations
Usually last week (Thu - Sun) of April - Easter Celebrations
1 May - Day of Labour & Working People
6 May - National Army's Day (St. George- the victor and its patron)
24 May - Day of Public Education, Culture & Slavic Literacy
1 June - Children's Day (non-participation)
6 September - Day of the Union of Eastern Rumelia with the Bulgarian Principality
22 September - Bulgaria Independence Day
1 November - Enlighteners' Day (non-participation)
25 - 26 December - Cristmas Celebrations

1 January - Cristmas carols (name-day of Vasil & Vasilka)
6 January - Epiphany (St. Jordan's Day)
7 January - Ivanov Day (name-day of Ivan & Ivanka)
2 February - Candlemas, the Presentation in the Temple
1 March - Baba Marta (i.e. 'the Month of March', when Bulgarians put on twined tasselled red and white thread, symbol of spring & health)
25 March - the Annunciation
St. Bazar's Day - Saturday before Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday - Sunday before Easter
11 May - St.St. Kiril & Metodii's Day (Slavic enlighteners)
1 June - Ascencion Day (name-day of Spas)
11 June - Pentecost
12 June - The Holy Spirit
29 June - St. apostoles Petar & Pavel (name-day of Petar)
20 July - St. Elija's Day (the uprising in 1903 against the Ottoman domination in Macedonia).
6 August - Transfiguration
15 August - the Assumption
8 September - Virgin Mary's Birth
19 October - St. Joan Rilski's Day (the patron of all Bulgarians)
26 October - St. Dimitri's Day (name-day of Dimitar & Dimitrina)
8 November - Archangel's Day
21 November - Presentation of the Blessed Virgin
6 December - St. Nicholas Day (traditional menu - fish meals)