Workers in cultural institutions from across the country are protesting in front of Sofia Municipal Library in the capital and in regional towns, demanding a pay rise. On National Awakening Day, people from museums, libraries, community centres, music and performing arts, theatres, Bulgarian National Radio, the State Agency for Archives, the Bulgarian National Film Archives are protesting against humiliatingly low salaries.

We want an increase in the living wage for all the 11 000 or so people in the sector. Their paychecks are slightly above minimum wage. We want a 35% increase in income to compensate for the inflation over the last 2.5 years, the unions said. They are also demanding that the state budget for culture should be at least 1% of GDP. The cultural industry in Bulgaria generates 5-5% of GDP, but receives only 0.4% from the state budget.