Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

International mummer festival Surva in Pernik cancelled due to water crisis

The 28th edition of Surva International Festival in Pernik attracted more than 7,500 participants
Photo: BGNES

Because of the ongoing water shortage in the town of Pernik, the traditional mummer International Festival Surva will not be held this year, Pernik Mayor Stanislav Vladimirov has told media. On Tuesday Bulgaria's Minister of Healthcare Kiril Ananiev and the Chief State Health Inspector Assoc. Prof. Angel Kunchev visited the town. The firm opinion of health authorities is that because of the risk of diseases, it was better to cancel the forthcoming edition of the festival. The Regional Health Inspectorate has also called against conducting Surva 2020. The risk for human health is big, so we had to make this difficult decision, Vladimirov said. 

The 29th edition of the festival, which is part of UNESCO’s World Intangible Cultural Heritage, was to be held from 24 to 26 January. Nearly 6,000 mummers from more than 100 groups had registered for taking part in this year's festival. Every year the festival attracts participants from all ethnographic regions of Bulgaria as well as numerous foreign guests. The first edition of the festival was held in 1966. 




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

1 in 3 Bulgarians affected by energy poverty

Thirty percent of Bulgarians, or 1.8 million people fall into the category of energy-poor households with no access to basic energy services for adequate heating, cooling, lighting and energy for household appliances, BNR’s Tsvetelina Stoyanova..

published on 5/30/25 11:02 AM
Ahmed Dogan

Ahmed Dogan supporters to discuss idea of forming a new party

Ahmed Dogan’s supporters will hold an extraordinary meeting of their party’s central operative bureau to discuss the idea of creating a new political party, BGNES reports. According to unofficial data, its leader will be MP Ilhan Kyuchyuk. The..

published on 5/30/25 9:23 AM

The attempts to attack me over the enactment of the law on adoption of the Euro are a manipulation, President Radev says

“The attempts to attack me over the fact that I enacted the law on adoption of the Euro are a vapid manipulation because there are absolutely no dates in this law, there are conditions and procedures,” President Rumen Radev told reporters. He was..

published on 5/30/25 8:51 AM