A wave of interest in growing in the Golden Umbrella Festival - International Media Events being held in the Black Sea resort of Albena next month.
The event, the biggest media festival on the Balkans, is being held in Bulgaria for the 12th year in a row.
More than 3000 professionals from the media world, including representatives from 30 countries and more than 300 companies, will be attending the festival, being held from June 7 to 11.
According to organisers, “the festival is a cult event for the whole media world in the region with an ever-growing international participation. It is an authoritative forum that attracts the biggest advertisers in Bulgaria. It is also one of the loudest social events of the season.”
Among the festival’s many highlights is the competition, to win International Media Awards for news, show, radio, press, and the web.
During the course of the events, participants are introduced to the newest technologies in the media business. Seminars and promotions are an important part of media meetings.
The 2006 festival is under the patronage of Culture Minister Stefan Danailov. Stephan Delahaye, general manager of the Euro RSCG Agency is president of the International Media Events, and Georgi Kuzmov is general secretary of the media forum.
There are to be a number of innovations during this year’s festival.
The International Media Events will be accompanied by many changes, a new image, new accents; the organisation team itself is already international. This year’s festival will draw an even greater international participation, which further establishes the initiative as one of the most important media events in South Eastern Europe.
This year, the main partner of the Albena events is international company the Media Planning Group (MPG). MPG has arranged the participation of world famous advertising guru Jacques Seguela in the festival, who is to give a lecture on the last day of the festival.
For the first time, the festival has been popularised outside Bulgaria through a series of news conferences, organised in countries including Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Romania. The idea of the organisers is to expand the festival’s international participation and influence, as well as to popularise Bulgaria as an attractive destination for business investment.
A newsletter, the Golden Umbrella Gazette, is being published each month. It presents the most interesting moments from last year’s festival; it does so along with a Bulgarian version, Media Box, which has 32 pages. These free publications will be given to all accredited guests of the festival each month. The newsletters are intended to keep all guests informed about the ongoing preparation of the 12th International Media Festival; additional events on the programme; and news from the media business in Bulgaria and abroad.
A Media Expo is being held as part of the Festival in Albena. It will combine the traditional fairs and expos from past years, including the International Black Sea Television Market, Media Technologies Expo, and Press Expo in one, and it will include a new facet - an IT expo.
For the first time, apart from traditional distributors of television channels, representatives of one of the biggest industry majors, Disney, will be present at the festival. The presence of the industry giant is a sure sign that this media market is attracting the attention of major film and programme traders.
Another innovation this year is the beach festival (only for the accredited), which is to include daytime discos, parties and broadcasts of the Football World Cup 2006, live from Germany.
The award ceremonies are being combined in a special 12-hour party.
A new four-star hotel, the Flamingo, in the Albena resort complex will be available to the guests of the event.
The gala ceremony will be broadcast live by Nova Television for the second consecutive year. The ceremony will be hosted by media celebrities Dimitar Rachkov and Zueka, as well as Violeta Sechkova, famous as the assistant to the hosts of popular television show Sblusuk.
For the first time, the organisers of the festival events are offering a new service to their VIP guests, participants and visitors -VIP packages, which will allow guests to save time and effort. It will provide them with a professional meeting service, a Varna-Albena-Varna transfer, accommodation at the most luxurious hotels and the Albena resort, and access to all events and attractions during the festival.
A Media and Banking seminar is being held for the second time after three years. It will discuss ways to arrange bank financing for media projects. The event is being held with the participation of the Association of Commercial Banks.
For the first time in Albena, the possibilities, legal rights, technologies, prices for watching television and programmes through mobile phones will be discussed, at an event that include guest expert lecturers from the UK.
List of events included in the festival: TV News; TV Show; Press; Radio; Web; Creative Media Solutions; Media Expo; Seminars
The major sponsor is Vivatel and the official media partner is Nova Televisia, with the kind participation of: Media Planning Group; Bulgarian web Association; Bulgarian National Television, Bulgarian National Radio, bTV, Radio and Television City, FoxLife, TV 7, IBS, Kamenitza, The Sofia Echo; Leader magazine; Pari newspaper; Lufthansa.
For more information: www.goldenumbrella.info
