Sofia marks City holiday with concert

A concert in celebration of the holiday of the Bulgarian capital, titled Sofia Resounds with Faith, Hope, and Love, will take place in front of the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on Wednesday evening, the organizers from Sofia Municipality said, CE Report quotes BTA.

The Big Band of the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music, students from the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, as well as singers Hilda Kazasyan, Vassil Petrov, Michaela Fileva, Orlin Pavlov, and the Representative Brass Band of the National Guards Unit will perform on stage.

The concert is the highlight of the events organized by the Municipality to mark Sofia Day. Access is free to the public.

Earlier, Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniil will perform a blessing-of-the-waters ceremony for the holiday in front of the cathedral.

On September 17, the Orthodox Church honours Holy Martyrs Sophia, Faith, Hope and Love, and pays tribute to the Christian virtues whose names they bear. Sophia means wisdom.

This is also the Day of the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia. The name of the Bulgarian capital is directly related to the history of the Saint Sophia Church, which is next to the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, as it is likely that the Council of Serdica was held there in 343 AD.

September 17 is also the name day of people whose name is Vyara (Faith), Verka, Nadezhda (Hope), Nadia, Lyubov (Love), Lyuba, Lyuben, Lyubomir, Lyubomira, Sofia or Sofka.