The Day of Cyril and Methodius and of Bulgarian education and culture is the most revered holiday among Bulgarian compatriots around the world. Centers of the festive activities are the Bulgarian schools, which spread love for the native language and culture among Bulgarian children born abroad.

"This is a day when we should remember not only the great ones, but also all of the Bulgarians, as each of us has a good Bulgarian heart," teacher Diana Nikolova says. She, together with her colleagues Yordanka Atanasova and Detelina Doneva from the First Bulgarian School "Vasil Levski" in Las Vegas, USA, are preparing with the children for May 24 and the celebration at the end of the school year. Students are impatient and many of them actively participate in the festive program, which they have been working on together with folk dance teacher Iva Slavova. But the official celebration there will take place on May 30, along with the end of the school year.

There is no official data on the number of Bulgarians in Las Vegas. The Bulgarian community has been growing dynamically over the past 10-15 years and is estimated to be 7,000-strong. The First Bulgarian School "Vasil Levski" opened exactly 10 years ago and the total number of students is about 80.

"It is an exciting experience when we start preparing for May 24," teacher Diana Nikolova has told Radio Bulgaria. “We focus on everything Bulgarian during this holiday. In the school children learn not only about the life and work of prominent Bulgarian writers, but also about Bulgarian traditions and history.”

Preserving Bulgarian language and the love for Bulgarian culture abroad is not an easy task, Ms. Nikolova says. The main difficulty stems from the foreign language environment that children grow in. "But despite everything, once they come to the Bulgarian school, they want to study Bulgarian language. We manage to make them ambitious and create lasting interest in them, because our language cannot be learned for a year,” the teacher says. She is grateful to the Bulgarian institutions that support schools abroad, but adds that they need more Bulgarian literature and more Bulgarian language classes.

Rumyana Panayotova successfully graduated from the school in 2020. It was not easy for her to combine weekend visits with classes in her regular U.S. school and gymnastics training. But she succeeded, encouraged by her parents to stay dedicated to Bulgarian language and culture.

"It makes me feel proud being part of the Bulgarian community and being able to communicate with my relatives and friends," she says. "Yes, we speak Bulgarian at home with mom and dad. With my brother and sister we speak mostly in English. I really like Bulgaria. I love the sea, the architecture. I really want to visit Bulgaria this summer."

Interviews: Maria Samichkova

English: Alexander Markov