Who the holiday honours
The Day of the Bulgarian Enlighteners is observed every year on 1 November. It honours the writers, teachers, educators and revolutionaries who helped awaken national awareness during the Bulgarian National Revival. The Bulgarian term buditeli means “awakeners”: intellectual and cultural leaders whose work helped shape education and a shared sense of national identity.
Those remembered include Paisius of Hilendar, author of the Slav-Bulgarian History, alongside Sophronius of Vratsa, Neofit Rilski and Vasil Aprilov. Georgi Rakovski, Lyuben Karavelov, Vasil Levski and Hristo Botev are also among the figures honoured.
Origins and observances
The date has a religious connection. In the old-style calendar, 1 November corresponds to 19 October, the feast of Saint John of Rila. He is Bulgaria’s most venerated saint and the heavenly patron of the Bulgarian people.
The holiday was established by law in 1922, abolished after 1945 and restored in 1992. Since its restoration, it has been marked each year with celebrations in schools, universities, libraries and chitalishta, Bulgaria’s community cultural centres.
Is it a day off?
The day is a non-attendance day only for schools, universities and kindergartens; it is a normal working day for everyone else. It is therefore not a general public holiday granting a day off across Bulgaria.
Under Bulgaria’s Labour Code, the non-attendance provision applies to educational institutions rather than all employees. For other workers, 1 November is an ordinary working day unless it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, and it is not counted as a general holiday in the working-day calendar.