Antiquity and modernity met in the second of the two “White Nights of Razgrad” – the festival of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Until midnight, guests and participants viewed two unique exhibits from different eras arranged by specialists from RIM – Razgrad in the halls of the Interactive Museum. On the first floor is the skeleton of our “citizen” 7000 years old – from the Stone Age. His remains were discovered in 2016 in the village of Kamenovo during excavations carried out for several years in this area by archaeologists from NAIM at BAS, RIM – Ruse and RIM – Razgrad. The body is of a man, strongly bent to the left in an embryonic position, with his head to the northeast, holding a battle stone ax in his hands. A spondylus was also found in the grave – a clam used thousands of years ago to make jewelry. During the excavations it was removed in the form in which it was found. The entire tomb, so far stored in Kamenovo, was presented to the visitors of the museum in Razgrad for the first time. The news is that the skeleton will remain forever in the exposition of the Regional Historical Museum in Razgrad.

On the second floor of the Interactive Museum, visitors were transported in Thracian times – in front of the five silver objects with gilding from the Borovo treasure, owned by RIM-Ruse. The Thracian treasure includes three rhytons, a jug-rhyton and a spilled bowl, dating from the 4th century BC.
And among the majestic columns and walls of the ancient Roman “Abritus” was awarded the first prize of the newly established competition for drama “Anton Strashimirov “, organized by the Municipality of Razgrad and the Union of Bulgarian Writers. The President of the SBA Boyan Angelov congratulated the Municipality of Razgrad for its commitment to the idea of honoring and remembering the name of one of the creators of modern Bulgarian drama, who remained in the golden pages of Bulgarian literature.

The award – a plaque, a diploma and a cash prize of BGN 5,000 went to the writer Banko Bankov – author of numerous novels, collections of short stories and dramatic texts. Last year he won the Dramaturgy Award of the Union of Bulgarian Writers. Prof. Banko Bankov is a professor and lecturer at the Higher Institute of Civil Engineering.

His award was presented by Deputy Mayor Dobrin Dobrev, who expressed the satisfaction of the leadership of the Municipality of Razgrad that a new competition has been launched, filled with content and meaning. Dobrin Dobrev added that he hopes the competition will become traditional, and the works announced as winners will be performed on the Razgrad stage. According to him, this is the most dignified way to preserve and honor the name of a patriot, a talented playwright and a true Bulgarian, such as Anton Strashimirov.

The first winner of the Anton Strashimirov Award, Banko Bankov, praised the initiative of the organizers of the competition to emphasize the role of Strashimirov as a talented writer. “It fills a gap between theatergoers and writers in Bulgaria, which can be bridged by mutual understanding and helping each other”, Banko Bankov said.

As provided by the terms of the competition, on stage Banko Bankov presented his work “Unfinished Page” to the director of the Theater and Music Center – Razgrad Tanya Karbova. She undertook to put the play on the Razgrad stage next year. Karbova announced that this year the Razgrad theater will celebrate its 75th anniversary. This will take place in October with theatrical celebrations, which will be opened with “Mother-in-law” by Anton Strashimirov.

After the ceremony, on the stage in Villa “Urbana” the girls from the City Cheerleading Ensemble at the Center for Work with Children opened the evening performance with their performance with luminous songs. After them, with whirling Bulgarian dances, the Chinari Ensemble presented the dance performance “Mystical Rhythm”. After its finale, the dancers drew the large audience into a beautiful and multi-faceted Bulgarian dance.