BALKANFILA XX 2024 - EVENT REVIEW | Philately Bulgaria

In the period November 13 - 16, 2024, the international philatelic exhibition BALKANPHILE XX 2024 was held at the International Fair of Thessaloniki, Greece.

The aim of Balkanphila XX is to organize a high-level international philatelic competition exhibition with the recognition of FEPA and sponsorship of FIP, as well as to illustrate the cosmopolitan character of the city of Thessaloniki and its historic port through several collections related to important historical communities (Levantine, Ottoman, Jewish, as well as Greek).

About 200 exhibits were displayed from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, as well as from the invited countries China, Germany, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, the USA, Cyprus, Israel, Italy and Lebanon, etc. The Commissioner from the Bulgarian side was Mr. Nikolay Penev - Chairman of the Varna Philatelic Society. A member of the jury from Bulgaria was Mr. Boncho Bonchchev.

The competition exhibits were classified into the following classes:
- Balkanfila Grand Prix Class
- Traditional philately
- Postal history
- Aerophilia
- Astrophilia
- Thematic philately
- Maximaphilia
- Open philately
- Postcards
- Philatelic literature

There were 8 participants from the Bulgarian side - Orlin Todorov, Janush Donev, Deyan Nikolovski, Krastyu Krastev, Sergey Magdichev, Marcel Kanev, Nikola Nikolov, Vladimir Kurtev. Their performance was impressive, achieving the following results:
- Janush Donev - "Liberation post offices in Bulgaria 1840-1879" - Large Gold 92 points
- Marcel Kanev - "Revenues, Kingdom of Bulgaria general issues, 1922-1929" - Large Gold 90 points
- Krastyu Krastev - "Bulgaria Airmail, 1926-1952" - Large Vermeil 81 points
- Vladimir Kurtev - "The Planet Earth" - Gold 88 points
- Sergey Magdichev - "Catalogue of Bulgarian Maximum cards" - Large Vermeil 80 points
- Nikola Nikolov - "Military censorship in Bulgarian Civil Post Offices during the WW1, 1915-1918" - Large Vermeil 82 points
- Deyan Nikolovski - "The postal history of Bulgaria, 1879-1901" - Large Gold 90 points
- Orlin Todorov - "River and Maritime mail in Bulgaria...+ SP" - Large Gold 91 points

Of all the countries participating in the exhibition, Bulgaria was one of the few that had a participant in class Y (youth). Marcel Kanev (son of Galin Kanev - a merchant from the city of Ruse) participated in class Y3 (participants from 19 to 21 years old) with an exhibit "Revenues, Kingdom of Bulgaria general issues, 1922-1929", where he won 90 points (Large Gold). The other countries with participants in class Y were from Greece and Romania.

Of course, we should also note our participation in the Philatelic Literature class, namely subclass L3 "General Catalogs". "The Catalog of Bulgarian Cards Maximum" by Mr. Sergey Magdichev managed to earn 80 points.

Let's recall a little history. The first Balkanphila exhibition was held in the period 7-15 August 1965 in the city of Varna. Participating countries are Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania (with 68 exhibits), Turkey and Yugoslavia (362 exhibits). Winners:
- Grand Prix Interbalkanique: Filmer Cemil (Turkey): Specialized Collection Turkey;
- Grand Prix National: Teodor Popov (Bulgaria): Specialized Collection Bulgaria.

And finally, let's summarize. The Bulgarian participation in Balkanphila XX is not large and massive, but it is of high quality. All Bulgarian exhibits have received over Large Vermeil, Gold and Large Gold. I hope that one of the next Balkanphila exhibitions will be in Bulgaria.