A bike parade will take place in Sofia on May 15 to mark the 10th annual World Day for Action against Climate Change, Bikevolution association said in a media statement. The event is organized by the non-governmental organisations Bikevolution (www.bikevolution-bg.org), Bikearea (www.bikearea.org), Cooperation for Voluntary Service Bulgaria (CVS, http://cvs-bg.org/) and Za Zemiata (For the Earth). read more

Bulgarian speleologists have discovered a new gallery in the Optymistychna Cave in western Ukraine, enough to help it reclaim the second spot in the list of the world's longest caves, private broadcaster bTV reported on May 13. The newly discovered gallery was called Bulgaria, bTV said. read more

May 12 is the national day for anonymous and free screening and prevention of skin cancer. Throughout the day, dermatologists from many Bulgarian towns and cities will conduct free checks of people, who have doubts for skin cancer. The campaign is called Euromelanoma 2008 and is part of the European initiative for prevention and screening of skin cancer. In Bulgaria, it aims to increase awareness about the issue. read more

A golden phiale replicating an item from the Panagyurishte treasures of Ancient Thrace will, from this year on, be the trophy awarded in the annual Best Sommelier competitions of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale. In 2008, the contest for Best European Sommelier is being held in Bulgaria from May 15 to 20; it is the first time in the 20 years of its existence that the competition will be held outside of France. read more

The exhibition of Pierre et Gilles at Sofia City Art Gallery marks the first time that the French duo has had a show in Eastern Europe. The artists are best known for their combination of photography with painting, using pop culture, religious, Classical and kitsch motifs that all come together for a sort of surrealist adult fairytale. At a news conference held at the gallery the morning of May 9, the day before the exhibition opened to the public, French ambassador to Bulgaria Etienne de Poncins said that this was the “flagship moment” for the embassy and the French Institute this year. read more

Public-private partnerships and extra-curricular activities are the key to improving the current state of education in Bulgaria, participants in a news conference for the third Festival of Bulgarian Education said at BTA on May 8. The festival takes place at NDK (the National Palace of Culture) in Sofia from May 9 to 11, from 10am to 7pm every day. read more

The vernissage of Czech photographer Jan Šibik’s exhibition The Devil in Us will kick off the One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival on May 7 at Dom na Kinoto in Sofia. Šibik himself will be in attendance for the 6pm opening of the show, which presents 65 artistic-realist images covering everything from conflicts in Palestine to the effects of AIDS. read more

The last will and testament of Baba Vanga has been fulfilled with the May 5 opening of her Petrich house as a museum. The document, dating to 1984, in which the Strumica-born (now part of the Republic of Macedonia, though when she was born in 1911, it was part of Bulgaria) blind clairvoyant granted all her possessions, including property, to the state for the creation of a museum was found after she died on August 11 1996, zagrada.bg reported. read more

“Sugar” may be a little bit too sweet of a nickname for a rock musician, but with his two-hour concert in Sofia on May 4, the Italian Zucchero (the Italian for sugar) proved that he was far from being a mawkish singer. It all began ever so seriously, without any opening words, just Zucchero sitting in his throne (yes, the one you’ve seen in the videos), singing. Yet minutes later, hall 1 of NDK (National Palace of Culture) had read more

Actor John Cusack's political satire against the US-led war in Iraq - War, Inc - which was filmed in Bulgaria, premiered earlier this week at New York's Tribeca Film Festival. Cusack was involved in writing the screenplay and stars as the hitman hired to kill a Middle Eastern oil minister who plans to lay an oil pipeline through fictional Turaqistan, a country occupied by a private US company called Tamerlane and run by a former American vice-president. read more