39 Bulgarian artists were awarded by the Ministry of Culture for their contribution to the development and promotion of Bulgarian culture. The awards were presented on the occasion of the Day of the National Awakeners. 

This year's winners of the prestigious awards include the distinguished director, screenplay writer and novelist Angel Wagenstein, who turned 100 in October, the literary historian and critic prof. Mihail Nedelchev, composer and conductor prof. Plamen Djurov, theatre director and actor Alexander Morfov, German translator Ekaterina Klein, Slavist and Bulgarian scholar Elisabeth Schore, professor at Albert Ludwig University (Freiburg, Germany) and many others.