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The Italian municipality of Celle di Bulgheria – honorary guest at the Petrovska Kitka festival in Veliki Preslav

Photo: Municipality of Celle di Bulgheria

The Italian Municipality of Celle di Bulgheria will be the guest of honor at the folklore festival "Petrovska Kitka" held in the town of Veliki Preslav, Northeastern Bulgaria. The expected event will take place from June 24 to 26, and will feature performers from all over Europe, including from Italy, the Italian publication Giornale del Cilento reports.

"We received the invitation personally from the mayor of Veliki Preslav, Mr. Yanko Yordanov”,  says the mayor of Celle di Bulgheria Gino Marotta in front of the publication. The invitation from the Bulgarian side is not accidental. The inhabitants of the municipality keep the memory of their distant ancestors, led by the proto-Bulgarian khan Alcek, who settled in the southern part of Italy more than 14 centuries ago. Nowadays, the Italian municipality maintains close contacts with Bulgaria through a series of joint initiatives.

Пепе Чирило

Especially for the festival, the Italian singer and songwriter Peppe Cirillo will arrive in Veliki Preslav together with his band "Antiqua Saxa". They will present contemporary arrangements of traditional Mediterranean music from the Cilento region. The Italian edition also reminds that the municipality of Celle di Bulgheria has been twinned with the old Bulgarian capital Veliki Preslav since 2016 and quotes Mayor Gino Marotta, who says:

"Our twinning is not just on paper, for us it is something much more significant. We have an important tourist and cultural exchange with Bulgaria. Every year many Bulgarian tourists choose our municipality for their summer vacation”.

The delegation of the Italian municipality in Veliki Preslav will be led by Angelo Carelli, municipal councilor of Celle di Bulgheria. "This is an opportunity to promote our region. And our twinning with Veliki Preslav is an opportunity for a wider opening of our municipality to Europe,” Carelli told Giornale del Cilento.

Compiled by Veneta Nikolova

English version Rositsa Petkoav

Photos: Municipality of Celle di Bulgheria, Facebook /Peppe Cirillo


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