Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Ashura Day officially included into the 2020cultural calendar of Plovdiv Municipality

The two major Muslim holidays Eid al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha, as well as the Ashura day will be officially part of the cultural events calendar of the Municipality of Plovdiv for the present year, 2020. This became known during the session of the Municipal Council – Plovdiv, held on January 16 (Thursday) this year.

The proposal to enrich this year’s calendar of the Municipality of Plovdiv with cultural events and holidays of the Muslim community  was submitted through an official letter from January 14 this year to the Deputy Mayor in charge of “Culture, archaeology and tourism” Plamen Panov. The official written proposal was made on behalf of Taner Veli, Regional Mufti of Regional Mufti’s Plovdiv, and Ahmed Pehlivan – Chairman of the Muslim Board of Trustees – Plovdiv, and it was not linked to request for funding the celebrations from the Municipal budget. The proposal was accepted by the Deputy Mayor on cultural activities of the Municipality of Plovdiv Plamen Panov without voting on behalf of the municipal councilors.

“We hope that from now on every year the Muslim holidays will be officially part of the cultural calendar of the Municipality of Plovdiv. We also hope that there will be a possibility to include two more dates – February 14, when we celebrate “Coffee of Tolerance”, as well as New Hijri Year.” – the Regional Mufti of Plovdiv Taner Veli shared for Grandmufti.bg

“We, the Muslims, are one of the largest minority communities in Plovdiv – we number nearly 100 000 people. And this city is famous for its tolerance. It was important to us as the cultural calendar of the Municipality includes holidays of other ethnicities and religious communities, so part of it to be also important holidays and events for the Muslims.” – with these words the Mufti Taner Veli argued the decision of the mufti’s office in Plovdiv to submit the proposal for including the Muslim holidays in the cultural calendar of the Municipality of Plovdiv.

He expressed his satisfaction with the decision of the Municipal Council to respect the submitted proposal and expressed also his hope that during the next years there would be a possibility at least for some of the Muslim celebrations and events to be granted also municipal funds.

Author: L. Chausheva