The Apollonia Art Festival in Sozopol will run for 10 days from September 1. It will include 50 performances of drama, literature, classic music, pop and jazz. For 17 years the Black Sea town has hosted this unique cultural event. Sozopol gave the festival its ancient name Apollonia, after Apollo, the God of poetry and music. It is the meeting point of all the arts and covers music, theatre, ballet, literature and performance arts.

"The festival shows the best work of established names and rising stars," said Apollonia foundation chairman Professor Dimo Dimov.

World famous Bulgarian kaval (wooden flute) player Teodossiy Spassov will play at the festival on September 6 in the company of other musicians. Three days later he will perform works by Bella Bartok with the Sofia Soloists chamber ensemble. All the performances will be arranged for a chamber orchestra and kaval. On September 6 the stage will be shared with the Paradox Trio from the U.S.

"Teodossi Spassov is the third winner of the Apollon Toxophoros annual award, after Lyudmil Angelov and Yitzak Finzi," said Professor Dimo Dimov. The Apollon Toxophoros award for extraordinary contribution to the development of Bulgarian culture and its presentation abroad was set up in 1999 on the 15th anniversary of the Apollonia festival. "The award is more than a gesture of respect for Teodossi, it is a recognition of his talents", said Dimo Dimov.

Legendary soprano Alexandrina Milcheva will sing on August 31 in the town's art gallery. Another key event at Apollonia will be the Plovdiv Theatre with its Dream and The Art of Comedy plays. Both plays will be directed by Bulgarian actor Marius Kurkinski.

A special radio station will broadcast the 17th Apollonia festival live. Most of the artists are very young and will make their debut at the festival, said Apollonia's art director Margarita Dimitrova. Twenty-two-year-old pianist Viktor Vulkov is the youngest performer; he is still a student at the State Conservatory. The festival will also see performances by the chamber trio of Gergana Velinova, Geoffrey Dean and Mario Angelov.

On August 31, singers Alexandrina Milcheva, Evgeniya Ralcheva, Boryana Pasheva and Belinda Dusek will stage a concert. They will perform again with the Tutti Soli formation on September 6.

Bulgaria's only ethno band, Isihia, will perform traditional Bulgarian folklore music mixed with modern instruments on September 2. The only theatre premiere at the festival will be Bourgas theatre's "The Alchemist," directed by Nikolai Polyakov. Sofia Theatre, the Ivan Vazov Theatre, the Army Theatre, Plovdiv Theatre, the Sulza i Smiah Theatre, and Theatre 199 will also stage plays.

The Sofia City Art Gallery will organize two large exhibitions at the festival. "The Symbolism of the Early and the Late 20th Century" will include works by Ivan Milev, Nikolai Rainov, Sirak Skitnik, Nadezhda Lyahova and Milko Pavlov. Hristo Stefanov will exhibit 70 pictures of world famous people as part of his 70th birthday celebration.

The festival will see three literary premieres: "A Small Night Fairy Tale," a collection of fairy-tales and poems written by Lyudmil Stanev for his son, "Mission London" by Alek Popov, and Yuri Dachev's "When Cutting the Ants' Hair." Literary works by Marin Damyanov, Deyan Enev, Teodora Dimova, Emilia Dvoryanova, Georgi Gospodinov, and Nikolai Kunchev will be introduced to the press. On September 9 Georgi Danailov will present "As Far as I Remember" Part 1, and will read excerpts from "As Far as I Remember" Part 3, which he is currently writing. British duo Diada will perform jazz interpretations of Bulgarian folk music on September 6.