Bulgarians mark the 115th anniversary of organized hiking and tourism in Bulgaria Sunday at the Cherni Vrah summit in the Vitosha mountain nearby capital Sofia.

The first hiking and tourist society in Bulgaria was founded on August 27, 1895 by Bulgarian writer and nature-lover Aleko Konstantinov on the top of Cherni Vrah (2290 m). The society transformed into the present Bulgarian Tourist Union, and the anniversary of its founding is marked yearly on the last Sunday of August.

A couple of days after the original event Aleko published an enthusiastic article under the title “Unbelievable but True: 300 People on Cherni Vrah.” The Bulgarian Tourist Union announced that more than 3000 will brave the changing weather and are expected at the mountaintop Sunday.

The event will feature a concert by the Union's hiker's choir, as well as meetings with the Union's local organizations across the country.

Hikers day is also marked with the fourth annual Vitosha Run mountain running contest, which set out at 9 am at the National Palace of Culture in downtown Sofia to finish at the Cherni Vrah summit (18 km track, 1734 m ascent).

All interested were invited to take part in the race, with professional runners, skiers and other athletes having confirmed participation. The event is organized by the Marathon Society with the help of Sofia Municipality and the Bulgarian Athletics Federation.

The Mountain Rescue Service warned that hikers be wary of changing weather, including not only lower temperatures, but also wind, fog and possible rain in the mountains.