Ruse is one of the cities that will host a focus forum on the project of the Bulgarian Festival Association (BFA) "Bulgarian Festivals - Digital Perspectives". The project, supported by the National Fund "Culture" under the "Audiences" Program, examines the quality of the digital activities of more than 50 Bulgarian festivals, members of the BFA, from the cities of Burgas, Ruse and Veliko Tarnovo.
Within the project, a team of experts will take a kind of "picture" of the digital activities of the festivals and, together with the organizers, will look for better ways for them to reach their audiences. Initial observations show that festivals relatively often resort to the possibilities of creating their own websites, Facebook pages and groups, Instagram profiles and You Tube channels. Digital platforms are a democratic form of communication. In order to help the festival organizers and users, professional care is needed, supported by high quality and variety of information content.
The Municipality of Ruse, as a member of the Bulgarian Festival Association (BFA), is part of the "Bulgarian Festivals - Digital Perspectives" project. "Festivals are one of the most valuable achievements of modern society as they support the development of the economy, arts and education. They popularize traditions, but they are also a laboratory for experiments. The most important thing is the wide response they have among the audience, and for this these days social networks help the most.", argue their participation in the project by the Municipality of Ruse, organizer of the International Festival "March Music Days".
BFA unites festivals with different orientations - cinema, stage and visual arts, both in large cities such as Sofia, Burgas, Rousse, Varna and Burgas, and in smaller villages. Members of the BFA are some of the most prestigious forums in our country, such as "March Music Days" in Ruse, "Varna Summer" in Varna, "Sofia Music Weeks", "Stage of the Ages" in Veliko Tarnovo, the International Sofia Film Fest, etc. Only a year after its establishment, BFA became a member of the largest European festival network EFA (https://www.efa-aef.eu/en/home/), which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year. In 2014, BFA was chosen to play the role of a national hub in the European Commission project "Europe for Festivals. Festivals for Europe' (www.effe.eu). Thanks to this activity, a number of Bulgarian festivals receive the "European Festival" label as a mark of quality that offers international recognition. Thanks to the National Culture Fund, the active activity of BFA continues in 2023 as an opportunity to apply and share the best European practices.