Bulgarians often give each other a martenitsa (мартеница) — an adornment made of white and red yarn and worn on the wrist or pinned on the clothes — from March 1 until the end of the month. Alternatively, one can take off the martenitsa earlier if one sees a stork (considered a harbinger of spring). One can then tie the martenitsa to the blossoming branch of a tree. Family-members and friends in Bulgaria customarily exchange martenitsas, which they regard as symbols of health and longevity. The white thread represents peace and tranquility, while the red one stands for the cycles of life. Bulgarians may also refer to the holiday of 1 March as Baba Marta (Баба Марта), meaning Grandmother March. It preserves an ancient pagan tradition. Many legends exist regarding the birth of this custom, some of them dating back to the 7th century and the time of Khan Kubrat, the ruler of Old Great Bulgaria.
Bulgaria has nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which are part of the national route tourist map of 100 national tourist sites of the Bulgarian Tourist Union:
The early medieval large rock relief Madara Rider
Two Thracian tombs (one in Sveshtari and one in Kazanlak)
Three monuments of medieval Bulgarian culture (the Boyana Church, the Rila Monastery and the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo)
Two examples of natural beauty: The Fisherman Momerioland the Sreburna Nature Reserve
The ancient city of Nessebur — a unique combination of European cultural interaction, as well as, historically, one of the most important centres of seaborne trade in the Black Sea
“Surva”- International Kukeri Festival in Pernik, Bulgaria. One of the biggest masquerade festival on the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Conducted in the last three days of January. Kukeri or Surva Festival (Mummer’s games) in the town of Pernik, is the most spectacular “Kukeri” event in Bulgaria.
According to the Bulgarian Statistical Institute as of 2024 there were 75 theatres in Bulgaria including National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria with around 30,000 seats altogether. The first theatrical events in Bulgaria are related to community centers which were the center of the spiritual and social life of the country in the middle of the 19th century. The first theatrical production was presented in Shumen in 1856. This is the comedy Mihal Mouseoed by Sava Dobroplodni, who at that time was a teacher in Shumen. The name of Dobri Voynikov means the beginning of the Bulgarian theater. They call it the father of the Bulgarian drama and theater.
Bulgaria has a rich heritage in the visual arts, especially in frescoes, murals and icons. The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak offers fine examples of excellently preserved ancient Thracian art. Tomb art provides one of the most important sources of information about Thracian lifestyle and culture. Visual arts in the Bulgarian lands experienced an upsurge during the entire period of the Middle Ages. The crypt of the Alexander Nevski cathedral features an exhibition of a large collection of medieval icons. The earliest of those dates from around the 9th century. The Tarnovo Artistic School, the mainstream of the Bulgarian fine arts and architecture between 13th and 14th centuries, takes its name from the capital and main cultural center of the Second Bulgarian Empire, Tarnovo.
Bulgaria’s media are generally deemed unbiased, although the state still dominates the field through the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), and the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency. The written media have no legal restrictions and newspaper publishing is entirely liberal. The extensive freedom of the press means that no exact number of publications can be established, although some research put an estimate of around 900 print media outlets for 2024. Non-printed media sources, such as television and radio, are overseen by the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), an independent body with the authority to issue broadcasting licenses.