On August 15, the day when the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and Orthodox Christians around the world, marks the Assumption of the Holy Mother, the Black Sea city of Varna also celebrates its holiday.

The day has been declared a non-working day in Varna by a special Cabinet decree for 2008.

The programme adopted by Varna city council features a number of events, the climax of which will be the fireworks scheduled for 11.30pm. They will be fired off from jetty 1 (purva bouna).

Before that, the cultural calender invites people to the Summer Theatre in the city's Sea Garden. There, a concert will be held starting 8.30pm, putting the sound of some of Bulgaria's most prominent opera singers and musicians into the air: Kaloudi Kaloudov, Boika Vassileva, Tsvetelina Vassileva, Ivo Yordanov and Varna Orchestra, with dance by the ballet troupe Arabesque.

For those keen on contemporary Bulgarian music, Varna is presenting a concert starting at 10.30pm at the entrance to the Sea Garden, next to Hotel Odessa and the Festival and Congress Centre.

The concert Hello Varna will feature performances by the popular band Akaga, Grafa, one of the most popular pop solo artists in the country, and two of the participants from this year's Music Idol television programme – the winner Toma and the runner-up Nora.

Access to all events is free-of-charge.

Special guest at the Varna celebrations will be Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev.