In the course of two enthralling days, over 150 participants appeared on the stage of the Plenary Hall in the City Hall of Varna to demonstrate their lyrical flair and recitative talent. Together, they presented all the different faces of the poet – a fighter, romanticist, dreamer and realist.

The competition finished with a gala performance including a selection of poems.

The jury’s chair – Ms Elka Nyagolova, expressed her admiration for the skills of the participants and their devotion, as well as her regret that it was impossible to award them all. The prizes were presented by the jury members. In the first age group, awards were given to: Yavor Darelov, Snezhina Valkanova and Anna-Maria Atanasova-Georgieva together with her onstage partner Dalinda Husam. The winners in the second age group were: Zhulieta Vasileva, Polina Vasileva nd Simona Aleksieva, and their awards were presented by Mr Svilen Stoyanov. In the third age group the first prize was awarded to the final-year Naval Academy cadet Angelina Angelova. The second and third-place awards were respectively for Vanina Bilcheva and Hristina Stoyanova. In the fourth age group the top spots were taken by: Mr Encho Pavlov. Ms Galina Ivanova and Mr Stancho Dobrev. The special prize of Cherno More media group was presented by Ms Nasya Atanasova, CEO of the group, to the contender Boyan Fratsov.

Thankfully, owing to the sponsors of the event, at the second edition of Vaptsarov Days national poem recitation competition, it was possible to stimulate the participants by awarding special prizes, too. Such prizes were conferred on Elia Budakova, Aleksandar Todorov, Sofia Rozberg, Viktoria Panayotova, Radina Raykova, Maria Zhelyazkova, and Konstantina Georgieva.

Acknowledgments were also given to the most junior participant – Andreya Dimitrova, 5, and the most senior one – Boris Garnev, 95 years of age.

Twenty-five contenders received books as prizes provided by the Union of the Bulgarian Writers.