The longstanding partnership between the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) and the Apollonia Festival of Arts was highlighted in Sozopol on Tuesday, as this year’s festival dedicated its “Price of Success” series to BTA and its cultural magazine LIK. As part of the series, BTA presented the 12 issues of LIK published between last year’s festival and this year’s edition. The presentation brought together representatives of BTA, LIK and the festival to showcase the magazine’s latest editions and highlight its role in preserving and exploring Bulgaria’s cultural heritage.
BTA has been part of Apollonia since the festival’s first edition in 1984, Festival Director Margarita Dimitrova pointed out, emphasizing that the agency has covered the festival throughout its 42-year history. In recent years, BTA has expanded its coverage with extensive photographic reporting on the festival’s film, theatre, literature and other events. Dimitrova also highlighted LIK’s contribution to documenting Bulgaria’s cultural life and significant developments across the arts.
BTA Deputy Director General Evgenia Drumeva said the presentation demonstrated how BTA’s press clubs can serve not only as venues for sharing information but also as spaces for dialogue, art and the exchange of perspectives. She stressed that an important part of LIK’s development is its ability to combine material from BTA’s archives with new facts, viewpoints and personal testimonies from people across Bulgaria.
For LIK Managing Editor Yanitsa Hristova, the magazine’s strength lies in connecting the past with the present while offering perspectives that can inform the future. She said its stories show that success is usually built on hard work, sacrifice, dedication, faith and talent, and often depends on courageous decisions.
Georgi Lozanov, Editor-in-Chief of BTA’s LIK magazine for literature, art and culture, noted that the publication is now in the third stage of its development, focused on cultural memory and a more analytical understanding of the recent past. He stressed that this approach is particularly important in examining the culture of the communist period, whose assessment is often politicized and reduced to either rejection or glorification. Lozanov also pointed out that this approach helps connect the past with present-day questions, including how freedom is understood and valued today.
Relaunched in 2022 as a monthly magazine, LIK published 12 issues from September 2025 to August 2026 under the theme “Memory, Notable Personalities and Events,” with each edition focusing on different anniversaries and significant subjects. Recent issues have explored topics ranging from Bulgarian currency and the 130th anniversary of the National Academy of Art to the life and career of opera singer Gena Dimitrova and the legacy of St John of Rila. Together, they illustrate LIK’s approach of using historical records and contemporary perspectives to tell stories that remain relevant today.
The Apollonia Festival of Arts, organized by the Apollonia Foundation, has been held in Sozopol since 1984. This year’s programme features more than 70 events spanning music, theatre, literature, cinema and visual arts, with BTA continuing its longstanding role as a media partner.
