Kite Festival – Varna 2015 is organized by Club “Asto – Sky Wonders” and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) – a team of enthusiasts with experience in conducting events of this kind and with ambition to turn it into one of the iconic events of Varna in summer. With its international character, this innovative and attractive cultural event contributes to the development of the specific look of the city, encourages creativity and social inclusion of different groups of participants, fosters a love of flying, birds and freedom, and the right attitude to the environment.

This year the festival is dedicated to the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats and is co-funded by the WCS with the support of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2009 – 2014.

Once again the festival is international – participants from Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia and elsewhere will fly their original handmade kites. The program includes a parade of kites, competition for the most attractive model, demonstrations of model aircraft, paragliders and other flying objects, as well as a kite making workshop on the spot. The accompanying program of the festival is also rich – performances of children’s dance and theater groups from Varna and the region, mini-concerts of famous Bulgarian pop singers, workshops and art studios, watching the migration of storks, pelicans and other soaring birds with specialized optics, nice music and many other activities.

A workshop for reportage and artistic photography will also be hale at the festival. The participants in this workshop will have the opportunity to photograph the events during the festival, and especially the demonstrations of international kite flyers who will demonstrate their master skills in managing huge colorful handmade and stunt kites. The experience of last year showed that the time and place of the event are suitable for wildlife photographers too – they could shoot the migration of storks, pelicans, honey-buzzards, harriers, eagles and other raptors. Selected photos from this workshop will be included in a traveling exhibition “SKY WONDERS – VARNA 2015″ which will be displayed at various places in the city and elsewhere in the country.

Our partners in conducting this year’s festival are: Marti Kite Club – Turkey, Radio Varna, Photoplace, peika.bg, Impact Press Group, “Look at Varna”, tourist company “Neophron Tours”, graphic design studio “Oddara” and others.

The festival supports the choice of Varna for European Youth Capital in 2017.

More information:

WCS’s project “Increasing the capacity of volunteers in northeastern Bulgaria for the implementation of biological monitoring,” briefly “Volunteers for Nature”, is funded under the program BG03 in Bulgaria under the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2009 – 2014 .

This document has been created with the financial support of the BG03 Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area. The sole responsibility for the content of this document lies with the Wildlife Conservation Society and under no circumstances can be assumed that this document reflects the official opinion of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area and the Program Operator – the Ministry of Environment and Water (www.BG03.moew.government.bg)

During the presentation the children learned which are typical inhabitants of the dense riverine forest and nature reserve which is located nearby, why it is so unique, what rules we must follow in the protected area and how we can help wildlife and plants. To reinforce the lesson, we made a short walk to a nearby park, where we looked at the trees and climbing plants forming the main habitat in the Kamchia Reserve – the dense riverine forest, and learned to spot and observe forest birds with binoculars.

This first visit of our team to the Sanitary and Health Complex “Kamchia ” initiated a series of educational events that will continue in the coming months.

The project “Enhancing the capacity of volunteers in northeastern Bulgaria for the implementation of biological monitoring,” briefly “Volunteers for Nature”, is funded under the program BG03 in Bulgaria under the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2009 – 2014.

This document was created with financial support of the BG03 Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area. The sole responsibility for the content of this document is borne by the Wildlife Conservation Society and under no circumstances can be assumed that this document reflects the official opinion of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area and the Operator Program – the Ministry of Environment and Water ( www.BG03.moew.government.bg)

Theoretical and practical field training of volunteers will be held in four sessions over four different seasons and includes building skills to recognize and record rare and endangered plants and birds typical of the areas of the European ecological network Natura 2000 “Kamchia” and “The Flocks” (Yatata).

The first part – The wonder world of KAMCHIYA: Birds and Plants – took place on July 11, 2015 in special protected area (SPA) “Kamchia”. The training attracted great interest from both the more experienced and new participants. We paid particular attention to the sand dunes, which are among the rarest habitats in Bulgaria, and the sand-attached plants growing on them are among the most threatened plants on a European scale. With the help of expert botanist we learned how to recognize the most characteristic plants for three dune habitats – emerging (embryonic) dunes, mobile (white) and stabilized dunes (gray) dunes. We discussed the bird species which are indicative of the state of the environment. In “Kamchia” SPA such birds are the hollow-nesting Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Gray-headed Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, Semi-collared Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, Blue Tit, Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, Tree Creeper. Finally, we looked at the main habitat of the complex – the dense riverine forest of common ash, oak pedunculiflora, field elm, field maple and black alder, with undergrowth of common hawthorn, Cornus mas and dogwood.

Besides the training of volunteers, the project includes field work for data collection for the National System for Biodiversity Monitoring, participation in public events and educational initiatives aimed at promoting the idea of protecting the biodiversity.

The next field training is focused on migratory birds along the Black Sea migratory route, the Via Pontica, and is scheduled for the end of September 2015 Anyone interested can join by writing a info@wildlifeconservation.bg

The project “Enhancing the capacity of volunteers in northeastern Bulgaria for the implementation of biological monitoring,” briefly “Volunteers for Nature”, is funded under the program BG03 in Bulgaria under the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2009 – 2014.

This document was created with financial support of the BG03 Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area. The sole responsibility for the content of this document is borne by the Wildlife Conservation Society and under no circumstances can be assumed that this document reflects the official opinion of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area and the Operator Program – the Ministry of Environment and Water ( www.BG03.moew.government.bg)

Sand dunes are among the rarest habitats in Bulgaria, and the sand plants growing on them – among the most threatened on a European scale. On the other hand, the pollution of water bodies is one of the risks that frequently cause floods and disasters. Given that, in Bulgaria the scope of the initiative is extended to cleaning the rivers and reservoirs in the country. The campaign was held on the eve of the International Day of the Danube River – June 29, and it took all European countries located along the river, organizing volunteer actions to clean.

Shabla Municipality and the Wildlife Conservation Society thank all who participated in the cleaning and the manager of camping site “Cosmos” for the transportation of waste from the cleaned site.