So few nations have a holiday dedicated to their alphabet. 

This is just one of the reasons why May 24 is such an important occasion in Bulgaria. The day of literacy, education, and culture provokes festivities across the country. Through these celebratory events, we all pay homage to the enlightenment work our predecessors dedicated their lives to.

Numerous special activities occurred at the British School of Sofia (BSS) to mark the occasion.

Students who take Bulgarian as a native language decorated the school premises with posters created to honour the work of educators, authors, and intellectuals through the centuries.

They also participated in a series of quizzes meant to challenge their knowledge and also make language learning fun. 

To commemorate the creation of the Glagolitic alphabet by St. Cyril and St. Methodius, we took on the challenge of writing modern words in these traditional letters. 

The Glagolitic script, developed in the 9th century, stands as the earliest known Slavic alphabet. Its creation marked a profound cultural milestone, giving voice and identity to Slavic peoples and laying the foundation for centuries of literary and cultural development. 

Our young linguists took their time to learn about the intricacies of this traditional, beautiful script. The next challenge to be overcome was a Bulgarian spelling bee.

We ended the day of activities with a fun game – one member of each team had to act out a Bulgarian word or phrase while the others needed to identify it correctly for a chance to score a point.