BEACH UMBRELLAS
Renting a beach umbrella for a day on Varna beaches this summer will cost three leva. A total of 1820 umbrellas will be placed on the beaches, concessionaires said. Like last year, all beaches will offer 20 per cent of their area to people bringing their own umbrellas. This area will be placed behind the zone of concessionaires' umbrellas.

BEACHES ARE FINE
All of Varna's 23 beach zones meet the criteria of EU's clean water framework directive, local officials said.
Samples of the sea waters showed that beaches were ready for use. Samples are taken four times a month. The condition of Varna beaches led to a crisis last year when one of the city's most popular beaches, Yuzhen Plazh (South Beach) had to be closed because of an outbreak of fecal waters.

HEALTH CENTRES
Health Minister Evegenii Zhelev promised to speed the process of opening health emergency centres in the sea resorts near Varna. On June 3, Zhelev told a news conference in Varna that the ministry would sign contracts with Varna's hospitals to provide medical assistance at the resorts.

DANISH INVASION
About 6000 Danish tourists are expected to visit the Black Sea resort town of Byala, south of Varna. The tourist season for Byala will start in mid-June, Byala mayor Atanas Trendafilov told a June 3 news conference. The town will stick to its profile of a family destination, Trendafilov said.

ROMANIAN INVASION
The Black Sea resort town of Balchik, north of Varna and close to the Romanian border, was still a favourite for Romanian tourists, according to Balchik mayor Nikolai Angelov. The season in Balchik will start on June 15. Romanian tourists were a common sight every weekend, he said.
The nearby town of Shabla was also on Romanians' list of choices. During the course of last year's season Shabla welcomed about 6000 guests of whom 1160 were foreign nationals. For the first time the town received a signifiant number of tourists from Spain, Norway and Slovenia. Romanians, however, topped the list of foreign visitors.

SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
On June 23 to 29 the town of Balchik will host the Sixth International Short Film Festival In the Palace. Films will be shown non-stop during the festival. A total of 185 films from 21 countries will compete for the top prize. All films have English subtitles.