The Bulgarian National Radio celebrates its 80^th anniversary with a series of concerts around the country. The tour began on September 1 in Varna and its closing concert will be on September 13 in Plovdiv. Participants there are the National Radio Big Band, as well as the popular Yordanka Hristova, Margarita Hranova and Vassil Petrov.

On September 3, within the framework of the Apollonia festival in Sozopol, the Bulgarian National Radio had its radio day. Among other initiatives of the media, a concert was held. It ended with the iconic covers of Vassil Petrov of My Way and New York, New York and applause in a packed amphitheater. The singer is a frequent guest of the Sozopol festival, winner of the Apollo Toksoforos award (2011), which is awarded by the Apollonia foundation for outstanding contribution to the development of Bulgarian culture. For Radio Bulgaria, Vassil Petrov talked about what this festival means to him and how it has changed over these 30 years.

"I cannot say that I was part of the festival from the very beginning. I had a concert here 25 years ago, when I was making my first steps on the music stage and I had not graduated from the Music Academy yet. Since 1994, I began regularly to appear at Apollonia. At the beginning, I performed with jazzmen Lyudmil Georgiev /saxophone/ and Rumen Toskov /piano/, then with different musicians and ensembles. I've had a total of 20 concerts. Some of the best have been in the amphitheater with major orchestras such as the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Georgi Notev. Now I am presenting my latest project, which is in conjunction with the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band. It includes five songs on lyrics by Alexander Petrov, Mikhail Belchev and world hits arranged by Antoni Donchev, Angel Zaberski Jr., and Vasko Spassov. The Big Band of the BNR is a group easy to work with. It has an exclusive sound of an orchestra and when you have these musicians behind your back - it feels great. After the tour "80 years BNR" I will continue in October with concerts across the country, and in November I will sing in the United States and Germany. For the end of the year I am preparing Christmas concerts, some of which with the Bulgarian Choir Capella.”

Vassil Petrov’s upcoming tour in the United States will be held from 1 November through the 19 and is dedicated to the 99th birth anniversary of Frank Sinatra.