Museums, monuments and rescue in Shumen region

Shumen's museums will mark European Museum Night with free entry on 23 May. The Regional History Museum and the municipal tourism enterprise are both taking part.

Visitors can explore the Silver House and Bonsai Garden from 9 am to 4 pm at 156 Tsar Osvoboditel Street. From 6 pm to 11 pm, the main museum, three house museums (Panayot Volov, Dobri Voynikov, Lajos Kossuth) and two museum complexes (Pancho Vladigerov, Avsharyan) will all be open. The Regional Museum is showing a temporary exhibition of nearly 100 authentic folk costumes. The Kossuth house has an exhibition about Hungarian author László Nagy and Bulgaria. At 7 pm in the Dobri Voynikov house, guests can watch a televised musical about Krivorazbranata Tsivilizatsiya, marking 155 years since Voynikov wrote the novel. A concert, Improvisations in Museum Night, starts after 7.30 pm at the Pancho Vladigerov complex, featuring flute, guitar and piano. From 8 pm to 10 pm, the Panayot Volov house will screen documentaries about the April Uprising.

The children's play Pif, Paf, Puf runs at 11 am today in the Patilancho hall. Directed by Valeri Zarkov with set design by Veselin Nedelchev and music by Aleksandar Raychev, the show stars Katrin Lalova, Viliana Dimitrova, Viktoriya Strilova and Zarkov himself.

The story follows the three little pigs who build houses from straw, sticks and bricks. The two lazy pigs mock their diligent brother, but when the Wolf blows down their flimsy homes, they flee to the brick house. Thanks to the third pig's hard work and planning, all three outwit the Wolf. The play is built around humour, catchy songs and plenty of energy.

Volov-Shumen 2007 host Riltsi (Dobrich) at 5 pm today at the Tsonio Vasilev school stadium in the 33rd round of the North-East Third League. The team is on a 10-match winning streak and has cemented fourth place. Club president Ivan Stanchev said the remaining fixtures will be played calmly, since fourth place is secure even if they lose. He hopes to give some younger players time on the pitch, though that depends on the match situation.

Shumen municipality has selected a contractor to design the underground street beneath Osvobozhdenie Square. Mega Inzhstroy EOOD, working with subcontractor Apostroy EOOD, will handle the project and author supervision. The design fee is €165,000 excluding VAT, just under the estimated budget of €166,170.

The project calls for a two-way underground street linking Slavyanski Boulevard near the Officers' Club with Vasil Levski and Tsar Osvoboditel streets, plus an underground car park. The contractor has 20 calendar days for a full architectural survey and structural assessment, then 40 days to produce the detailed urban plan amendment and technical project, including cost estimates for future construction. The municipality first published the tender on 2 February 2026.

A water rescue team from the regional fire service in Veliko Tarnovo saved a 17-year-old boy after he was swept away by the swollen river Yantra near the village of Shemshevo. Heavy rain had caused the river to surge. The divers retrieved the teenager in apparently good health and handed him to medics.

Truck traffic over the Republic Pass is now restricted, and the road into Veliko Tarnovo from Gurkovo is closed due to flooding.

Aksakovo unveiled the first monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius in Varna region on the eve of 24 May. The statue was blessed by Metropolitan Yoan of Varna and officially opened by Varna governor Mario Smarkov and Aksakovo mayor Atanas Stoilov.

Sculptor Nikolai Ninov cast the figures from five tonnes of melted shell casings supplied by the Defence Ministry. The total cost was just over €50,000, funded from the municipal capital programme. Stoilov said the monument was commissioned after public consultation, and the site in front of the chitalishte was chosen by the community. Metropolitan Yoan reminded the audience that the mission of the two brothers was Christian and sacred, and that 24 May celebrates the foundations of Bulgarian spiritual and cultural identity. Smarkov added that few peoples can say they wrote their laws in their own language as early as the ninth century, which was a genuine revolution at the time.