Appolonia festival was opened in Sozopol. The Black Sea town has hosted this unique cultural event for 17 years. The ancient name of Sozopol Appolonia gave the name of the festival, after Apollo, the God of poetry and music. Bulgaria`s only ethno band, Isihia, will perform traditional Bulgarian folklore music mixed with modern instruments on September 2. The only theatre premiere at the festival will be Burgas theatre`s `The Alchemist,` directed by Nikolai Polyakov. The Sofia Theatre, the Ivan Vazov Theatre, the Army Theatre, the Plovdiv Theatre, the Sulza i Smiah Theatre, and Theatre 199 will also stage plays. Theodossi Spassov, kaval (wooden flute) player is the third winner of the Apollon Toxophoros annual award for extraordinary contribution to the development of Bulgarian culture after Lyudmil Angelov and Yitzak Finzi. He will play at the festival on September 6 in the company of other musicians. Three days later he will perform works by Bella Bartok with the Sofia Soloists chamber ensemble. All the performances will be arranged for a chamber orchestra and kaval. On September 6 the stage will be shared with the Paradox Trio from the US British duo Diada with jazz interpretations of Bulgarian folk music on September 6. The Sofia City Art Gallery will organize two large exhibitions at the festival. `The Symbolism of the Early and the Late 20th Century` exhibition will include works by Ivan Milev, Nikolai Rainov, Sirak Skitnik, Nadezhda Lyahova and Milko Pavlov. The festival will have three literary premieres: `A Small Night Fairy Tale,` a collection of fairy-tales and poems written by Lyudmil Stanev for his son, `Mission London` by Alek Popov, and Yuri Dachev`s `When Cutting the Ants` Hair.` Literary works by Marin Damyanov, Deyan Enev, Teodora Dimova, Emilia Dvoryanova, Georgi Gospodinov, and Nikolai Kunchev will be introduced to the press. On September 9 Georgi Danailov will present `As Far as I Remember` Part 1, and will read excerpts from `As Far as I Remember` Part 3, which he is currently writing. Canon sponsors the Apolonia festival for the second year running.

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