Youth Center Vratza

Festivals

Celebrating the national days and holidays is a priority to Youth centre Vratsa this is not just a task for us. It brings us great joy the process of organizing and conducting that kind of event because the main point is getting to know other cultures and traditions breaking the stereotypes between minorities and the majority.

Every year we celebrate Bango Vasil (The Roma New Year) organizing theatrical shows at the village Banitsa, presenting traditional rituals and dances. We also conduct non-formal discussions related to this special day for the Roma society. Thanks to these events, we introduce the traditions, culture and dances to people outside the Roma ethnic group.

Celebrating on 19 – th of February the death of one of the brightest people in our history – Vasil Levski. As an expression of our respect and admiration , the youth workers of the Youth Center – Vratsa laid flowers in front of the monument of the Vasil Levski in the city center.

Because of the initiative of the Youth Center – Vratsa, a 20-meter tricolor was stretched on the Vratsata pass, on the occasion of March 3!

On the 8-th of April – International Roma Day we organized several events such as Round table on the following topic “The successful young Roma people” and in the village of Kravoder parents with their children presented the “Little Red Riding Hood” on stage both in Bulgarian and Roma language.

Youth center Vratsa also organized a mini-festival in the village of Tishevitsa connected to Saint George day, also known as Edelezi for the Roma people. On the festival young people from several schools from the region had the opportunity to participate in different workshops and to watch a theatrical show.

On May 24, the team of the Youth Center – Vratsa organized activities for children and adults. In front of the monument of the holy brothers in the city centre, the youth workers set up an art installation and a photo pavilion, and everyone had the opportunity to write text of their choice and take unique photos against a retro desk with antique books and writing tools. Youth Center – Vratsa prepared a game for lovers of literature. Hristo Botev’s poem “My mom” was written on T-shirts worn by young volunteers, and the participants had to arrange them in the correct sentences and name the work and its author.

On June 1, Youth Center – Vratsa together with the Bulgarian Youth Red Cross – Vratsa and the State Agency for Child Protection organized an еvent for the joy of many children. The event was held in front of the building of the municipality of Vratsa. All visitors had the opportunity to participate in various activities. The kids painted on T-shirts and also played board games and with plasticine figures. The young people from BYRC- Vratsa introduced to the children the first help in an attractive and fun way. The participants collect stamps from each activity in which they participated. After getting the full number of stamps, the children could take the delicious treats for their active participation in the games.

On June 2, we celebrated the Day of Botev and those who died for the freedom and independence of Bulgaria. In this connection, the team of the Youth Center – Vratsa had an initiative together with the Municipality of Vratsa, namely the stretching of a 20-meter tricolor on the Vratsata pass. The youth workers from the Youth Center – Vratsa and young people from the Club “Sports Animation and Tourism” at the Center made a social experiment dedicated to the life and work of Hristo Botev. 28 chairs were placed on Hristo Botev Square in Vratsa – as many as were years of the poet. He left an indelible mark on the history of our country for such a short time. Everyone had the opportunity to sit in front of the monument and read one of Botev’s poems. The idea of ​​the experiment was to provoke the interest of people, who read the works of the poet – revolutionary in front of the opening view of his monument and the beauty of the Balkans, to spend a few minutes thinking about him and other fighters for freedom fighters. Many old and many children who had come to lay flowers showed curiosity and joined for the event.

On 12 august – International Youth Day, the whole of Vratsa had fun together. The evening program was prepared by the team of the Youth Center – Vratsa and their clubs. The young people were able to take part in a lot of fun and great activities. The night celebration was set by Galin Snezhanov – a youth worker from the Center. He intrigued the young people with the topic of “Ecology” and invited them to participate in the following activities- zumba,tabata,yoga, street fitness. The young people enjoyed healthy smoothies too. They enjoyed the film “Sea of ​​Wind” by the organization WIND2WIN, which was projected on the water mirror. The finale of the evening was set by the group FireLab – Vratsa. We thank the Municipality of Vratsa, Youth Home – Vratsa, Student Municipal Council of Vratsa, Bulgarian Youth Red Cross – Vratsa and all participants who showed that Vratsa is young and colourful!

September 30 was the International Day of the Deaf. Youth Center – Vratsa together with BYRC-Vratsa held an interesting initiative among the people of Vratsa. The initiative provoked young and old people to want to know more about things about the language of deaf people! The initiative was shown in the online youth show “What do you think?”, which was made by the team of the Youth Center – Vratsa. The online youth show is funded by the project BGLD – 1.003 – 004 “Youth Center Vratsa – a factor in the development of the Northwest” under the Program “Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Improved Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups”, funded by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014 – 2021. The publications on the site reflect only the opinion of the authors. The Program Operator of the “Program Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Improved Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups” is not responsible for the content and information.

The Day of the People’s Awakeners – November 1 was celebrated by the Youth Center – Vratsa with a special video. It was filled with wishes to all the awakeners. It was by the young people who participated in the youth initiatives “Creating together” 2020.

Since the beginning of 2022, January 6 has been celebrated. This date marks the 174th anniversary of the birth of Hristo Botev. This is one of the greatest Bulgarian poets and revolutionaries! Botev lived only 28 years but remains in national memory with his poetry and revolutionary work. The life of the great poet and revolutionary ends too early, but the traces he leaves in Bulgarian history are deep and he will never be forgotten! On this occasion, the Youth Center – Vratsa laid flowers in front of the monument of Hristo Botev!

On February 14 Youth Center – Vratsa celebrated Trifon Zarezan and St. Valentine with special videos. The first video wanted to show that the bridge between past, present and future was not broken! The tradition was alive! Youth Center – Vratsa were grateful to Vratsa violet for the attention they gave us and for sharing some of the secrets of making good wine. And congratulations to the young people from the class “Animators in Tourism” at Yoan Ekzarh Specialized Language School- Vratsa and part from the club “Youth Development and Entrepreneurship” at the Youth centre- Vratsa, who took on the role of reporters and presenters. P.S. all of them are 18 years old. The Club “Youth Development and Entrepreneurship” is part of the activities of the Youth Center – Vratsa in the implementation of Project BGLD – 1.003 – 0004 “Youth Center Vratsa – a factor in the development of the Northwest”, funded by the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021. The publications on the site reflect only the opinion of the authors. The Program Operator of the “Program Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Improved Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups” is not responsible for the content and information. And the second video was related to the episode of the online youth show “And what do you think”. The video aimed to show the joy of people from the decorations for the day of love and to explain which holiday young people celebrated the most on February 14. See the answers for yourself. Enjoy watching! The online youth show “And what do you think” is funded by Project BGLD – 1.003 – 0004 “Youth Center Vratsa – a factor in the development of the Northwest”, funded by the EEA Financial Mechanism. The publications on the site reflect only the opinion of the authors. The Program Operator of the “Program Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Improved Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups” is not responsible for the content and information.

Because of the initiative of the Youth Center – Vratsa, a 20-meter tricolor was stretched again on the Vratsata pass, on the occasion of March 3!