Golden Diana Music Festival

The Golden Diana Music Days began in Yambol in spring 1968 on the initiative of conductor Nikolay Sultanov and the local community. Initially devoted to chamber choirs, the festival broadened in 1973 to encompass chamber music, with editions alternating between choirs and orchestras. A competition for young chamber performers was introduced in 1988. Its early emphasis on Bulgarian composition later expanded to music from different countries and historical periods. The Dianopolis Chamber Orchestra hosts and organises the festival with Yambol Municipality. Its programme has also developed educational concerts for very young children and their parents. Yambol holds its Golden Diana music days each year in the week around the town's own holiday, in late June. The name comes from Diana, the Roman goddess whose figure runs through the town's symbols: an archaeological school society took it in 1925, and the indoor arena that hosts touring opera carries it still. The programme is put together by the municipality; the 2022 edition included a gala by the soprano Alexandrina Pendatchanska with orchestra.