Days of Russian Culture in Sofia

On Saturday, March 1, Sofia will host the opening ceremony of Days of Russian Culture.

The state visit to Bulgaria by Russian President Vladimir Putin will also start on this day.

Leading Russian stars are expected to participate in the opening gala-concert.

The Bulgarian audience will see ballets "Ivan the Terrible and Romeo and Juliet", staged by Yuri Grigorovich, and will listen to soloists of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre.

The Bulgarian National History Museum will host a joint exposition, featuring exhibits of the Russian-Turkish War (1877-1878). Weapons and armour of Emperor Alexander II, called 'Tsar Liberator' in Bulgaria, and belongings of Russian generals, who fought against the Ottoman army, will be shown for the first time.

The week of Russian cinema will open with the show of Nikita Mikhalkov's film "The Barber of Siberia". The programme also includes films by Aleksei Balabanov, Valery Todorovsky and Nikolai Lebedev.

A roundtable between Russian and Bulgarian outstanding culture figures, including Culture Ministers Mikhail Shvydkoi and Bozhidar Abrashev, will be also held.

The Russian and Bulgarian Culture Ministries, "Russia-Bulgaria" forum and the Russian Culture Foundation are among the sponsors of the Russian art festival.

The Days of Bulgarian Culture are to be held in Russia this autumn.

The culture festivals are held under the patronage of the heads of state and are timed to the 125th anniversary of Bulgaria's liberation from the Ottoman Yoke during the Russian-Turkish War (1877-1878).