New Year’s Eve in Bulgaria: Relatively mild weather, open-air concerts
Relatively mild weather is forecast for the night of December 31, as Bulgaria prepares to greet New Year 2024, with open-air concerts scheduled for major cities and several towns across the country.
In the course of the night, temperatures in capital city Sofia are forecast to range between 1 and -1 degrees Celsius, with a similar forecast for Plovdiv, about five degrees in Varna and about three degrees in Bourgas, all with partly cloudy skies.
In the major ski resorts, Bansko is forecast to see temperatures of about 1 to -1 degrees overnight, Borovets about -3 degrees and Pamprovo from -1 to -3 degrees.
No warnings of hazardous or potentially hazardous weather have been issued for any district in Bulgaria for December 31.
January 1 is forecast to see partly cloudy skies, with fog in low-lying areas and countrywide, minimum temperatures between -1 and 4 and maximum highs between eight and 13 deg C. Snow is forecast for altitudes above 1800m in the mountains.
In Sofia, there will be a concert featuring popular musicians on Knyaz Alexander I Square, starting at 8pm, admission free.
The Interior Ministry said that about 200 police officers will take care of order and security in the area of the concert. After 4pm, traffic will be stopped on Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard, as well as in streets adjacent to the boulevard in the section from Rakovski Street to Nezavisimost Square.
The public will be allowed to enter the square after 7pm through six checkpoints on the periphery of the square.
People who are visibly intoxicated will not be admitted, and various items are banned, including firearms, fireworks, metal and wooden batons, glass bottles and drinking vessels, deodorants and other objects that could cause injury.
Firefighting and emergency teams will be on duty, and arrangements have been made for the rapid cleaning of the square after the concert and the resumption of normal vehicle traffic from 5am on January 1.
Sofia municipality has announced that there will not be a fireworks display at the New Year’s Eve concert, and appealed to the public not to set off fireworks, for the sake of animals and small children.
On New Year’s Eve, the busiest lines (link is in Bulgarian) of public transport and the metro will run, Sofia municipality said.
In Plovdiv, the festive concert at Stefan Stambolov Square will begin at 10pm. There will be a fireworks display at midnight, launched from the space behind the Christmas tree next to Plovdiv municipal headquarters and from a site on Bunardjika Tepe.
Plovdiv municipality said that the fireworks to be used were designed to emit minimal sound, minimal smoke, and predominantly illumination.
In Varna, there will be a 3D LED stage on Nezavisimost Square, where the festive programme will begin at 10pm and continue until 2am on January 1.
In Bourgas, the concert on Troikata Square begins at 10.30pm, featuring popular musicians, DJs and a folklore performance.
(Photo: Darren Danks/freeimages.com)
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