A "Mass Halloween celebration in Elin Pelin" is being organized on Facebook, after the mayor of the city issued an order banning celebrations on October 31.
The mayor of Elin Pelin Ivaylo Simeonov issued an order banning the celebration of Halloween in schools, kindergartens and community centers on the territory of the municipality because of November 1 – The Day of the People's Awakeners, bTV recalls.
The municipality specified that traditionally November 1 is celebrated with special solemnity in the city of Elin Pelin – with a prayer service and a torchlight procession, which includes hundreds of residents of the city and surrounding villages, students, teachers, athletes, community center amateurs and clergy.
„In my opinion, the Day of the People's Awakeners should be a national holiday, because then we bow before the supporters of the Bulgarian spirit - those who lit the spark of Bulgarianness once and those who keep it alive today. That is why in Elin Pelin we choose to celebrate the light of knowledge and patriotism, not the shadows of foreign customs“, emphasized Mayor Ivaylo Simeonov.
"Although at first glance such a decision sounds like protection of national traditions, legal analysis shows that the order contradicts the Bulgarian Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights and even goes beyond the mayor's legal powers", point out the organizers of the event "Mass Celebration of Halloween in Elin Pelin".