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Along the timeline, the event took a look back at the past and looked to the future in the field of beekeeping
Over 40 booths of producers of honey and bee products from the region and neighbouring centres with traditions in beekeeping, representatives of Bulgarian craftsmanship and masters of applied arts, five of which for the first time, contributed to the diversity and atmosphere of the sixteenth edition of the Honey Festival – a key initiative in the social and information policy of State Enterprise Radioactive Waste. The event took place on 21 and 22 February and gathered over 1,400 guests in the building of the Information Centre for Decommissioning of the Enterprise.
“I appreciate and thank you for the courage of each and every producer who has come from near and far on some of the coldest days of this winter to be part of the 2025 Honey Festival, because for us this is a sign of respect. I would like to assure you that it is mutual and to thank you for the natural and delicious products offered by you. I wish you a prosperous year and may it go smoothly!”, said so Dilyan Petrov, SERAW Executive Director, in his welcoming speech to the participants in the exhibition. The Mayoress of Kozloduy, Marinela Nikolova, also greeted the participants and guests and shared her delight that over the years the Honey Festival has become a sweet tradition for the Kozloduy Municipality. The Chairman of the Beekeepers in the region, Tsvetan Yovov, who is also a participating producer, expressed gratitude to the event planners and wished everyone a pleasant festival and the best of luck. The event was honoured by representatives of the Association of Women working in the field of Nuclear Energy, WIN Bulgaria, representatives of the Municipality of Mizia and mayors of town halls from the adjacent villages. The musical act of ‘Katerino Mome’ by the fourth-grader Tereza Plamenova from Vasil Levski Primary School in Kozloduy, was the greeting that marked the start of the exhibition after its official opening.
The exhibition ‘A Look at the Past’, prepared by the Information Centre’s team through the exclusive support by the local researcher Stefan Zlatanov, focused attention on the recent past with specially collected materials about the history of the Kozloduy Beekeeping Society and the contribution of individual beekeepers from the last century. The accompanying event programme, in turn, highlighted the efforts of young people in the field of beekeeping. Pavel Stoev, a student at Uwekind International School, Sofia, delivered a presentation on the results of a personally conducted experiment on beekeeping in an urban environment and explained how it affects the development of bee colonies and how through urban beekeeping we can improve the environment which we live in. The German language and history teacher at the same school, Kostadin Sokolov, shared with the audience the results of another scientific school experiment ‘Bees of Uwekind’ – creation, development and sustainability of a school bee project with the exclusive participation of the high-school students. The specialist beekeeper, actively leading public campaigns for the protection and conservation of bees, Yavor Kirilov, drew attention to equally important aspects in the production and distribution of honey and bee products – market, branding, advertising and other current topics for the producers. The teacher of vocational training at Hristo Botev Secondary School, village of Galiche, Vasil Parvanov and three of his students, shared about the achievements of the beekeeping class in an International Meeting of Young Beekeepers in Dubai and started an open discussion with the other lecturers and the audience on the need of the specialized class in the context of its upcoming closure.
The creative studio of Stanimir Nikolov from Srachkomaniya workshop was an attractive force for dozens of the youngest visitors who had the opportunity to closely observe the process of making various wooden products on a learning lathe and to participate in making toys themselves.
Within the framework of the 2025 Honey Festival, prizes were also awarded to the winners of the children’s drawing competition entitled ‘Bees and People – a Pure Friendship’. Nearly 180 children from schools in the Kozloduy Municipality and the town of Mizia took part in it, and a jury of two professional artists awarded the winners in two age groups – 1-2 and 3-4 grades.
Like in previous years, volunteers from Secondary Schools and the Municipal Children’s Complex – Personal Development Support Centre, Kozloduy, contributed to the spirit and atmosphere of the Festival.
A novelty at this year’s edition of the Honey Festival was a game to promote visitors’ interest in each of the producers. Two of the most active admirers of the work of beekeepers and applied beekeepers received special prizes drawn by children from the audience at the end of the event.

GALLERY