Festival of Spirit and Scripture in Vsetín

2. 4. 2013

This year is an important year when we commemorate the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Moravia. Their mission brought a new script and Christian faith to the territory of Great Moravia. With the arrival of these two missionaries a new epoch of the development of literature and society of Slavs in Central Europe begins. Also the House of Culture in Vsetín, in cooperation with other organizations in the city, will offer a number of cultural and social events related to this anniversary, which will take place in the city from April through June.

In Vsetín, we can pick up the threads of many events. Last year, within the celebrations of the Bulgarian national holiday - the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius - in May, we hosted a festival titled "Days of Bulgaria in Moravia" which was also devoted to the Cyrillo-Methodian legacy and presented Bulgaria as a country which is interesting from touristic, cultural as well as historical points of view. This year of the festival, for which the organizers chose the title "Bulgaria in Moravia 2013" - a festival of spirit and scripture, is held on the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Moravia. The festival brings various cultural and social activities devoted to Bulgaria and the Cyrillo-Methodian anniversary - films, lectures, exhibitions, concerts and social meetings. On 11th April a unique lecture presented by our leading expert in the Byzantine studies and Byzantine-Slavic relations - academician PhDr., Dr.h.c., Vladimír Vavřínek CSc., will take place in the social hall of the Masaryk Public Library at 5 p.m. The theme is "The Mission of Cyril and Methodius in Great Moravia and the Beginnings of Slavic Literary Erudition".

The Masaryk Public Library prepared and interactive educational program for elementary schools titled "Cyril and Methodius". In cooperation with the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Prague, the House of Culture in Vsetín issues an anniversary Cyrillo-Methodian pelmanism game with photographs of things commemorating both the thinkers in our lands. The organizer - the House of Culture in Vsetín - is preparing an exhibition called "Slavic Script" for the exhibition premises of the Vatra cinema. The exhibition is prepared including guided tours with a chance of viewing a historical movie Boris I - a word on the script. The program is intended for secondary schools.

On Tuesday 28th May, there will be a concert of Orthodox spiritual chorales from the Ukraine, Russia and Bulgaria performed by the world famous choir Don Cossacks from Vienna. Painting Cyrillo-Methodian motives on a graffiti wall at the building of the Vsetín House of Culture will be included as a special activity within the whole event. It will be carried out by pupils from the Vsetín Elementary Art School. An exhibition of icons created by a young Bulgarian iconographer, Dobromir Dimitrov, is one of the highlights of the festival. They are supplemented with spiritual texts by Ivana Noble. The Old Townhall Gallery in Vsetín will host this exhibition from 30th May through 11th June. A composed evening "Word and Song" will be a social meeting with the aim to present contemporary Bulgarian culture, music, literature and Bulgarian culinary art in the Vsetín House of Culture on 30th May. The evening will be organized by the House of Culture in Vsetín in cooperation with the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Prague and music will be performed by a music group from Prague, Džezvica, which sings Bulgarian and Balkan songs. In June, the program of the festival will be supplemented with a thanksgiving ecumenical holy mass in the open, in front of the palace in Vsetín, on Tuesday 18th June, which will be devoted to Saints Cyril and Methodius. A full-stop after the Vsetín celebrations will be taken care of by a concert of the group called Hradišťan, which will perform songs with Cyrillo-Methodian themes in the evening.

The main organizer of the festival is the House of Culture in Vsetín, in cooperation with the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Prague. The event is supported by the Zlín Region as well as by a member of the Zlín Region Council, Mrs. Taťána Nersesjan, under whose auspices the festival is held. Also the city of Vsetín supports the event and so do the cooperating institutions, the Masaryk Public Library in Vsetín, the Museum of the Wallachian Region in Vsetín and the Elementary Art School in Vsetín.

INVITATION to a lecture

On Thursday 11th April at 5 p.m, in the social hall of the MPL, a lecture presented by academician PhDr., Dr.h.c. Vladimír Vavřínek, CSc. will take place within the Festival of Spirit and Scripture. He is a leading expert in the Byzantine studies and in Byzantine-Slavic relations. You will find more detailed information below, in the leaflet attached.

Cyrillo-Methodian Pelmonism Memory Game

The House of Culture Vsetín, in cooperation with the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Prague issues an anniversary Cyrillo-Methodian pelmonism memory game with pictures of things that commemorate both the thinkers in our lands.

The issuing of the promotion Pelmonism game is part of accompanying activities of the Bulgarian festival titled "Bulgaria in Moravia 2013" - a festival of spirit and scripture - held on the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of Cyril and Methodius to Moravia, which will take place in the course of the months April - June 2013. The main organizer of the festival is the House of Culture in Vsetín, in cooperation with the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Prague. The whole event is supported by the Zlín Region as well as by a member of the Zlín Region Council, Mrs. Taťána Nersesjan, under whose auspices the festival is held. The event is supported also by the city of Vsetín as well as by cooperating institutions - the Masaryk Public Library in Vsetín, the Museum of the Wallachian Region in Vsetín and Elementary Art School in Vsetín. The Cyrillo-Methodian pelmonism game will be used as promotion material within the accompanying events of the whole festival.