The Bulgarian President Rumen Radev is going to take part in the events commemorating the 114^th anniversary of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising. The national gathering is traditionally held in the locality of Petrova Niva, Southeastern Bulgaria, and is under the patronage of the president.

Every year on 19 August, in the locality of Petrova Niva homage is paid to the victims in the 1903 uprising. A solemn prayer for the dead is due at the church and ossuary St. Petka. At 8:30 PM the Bulgarian President and Commander-in-Chief of the Army Rumen Radev will welcome the representative army units. The program also includes an outdoor history lesson and a screening of the documentary "Pages from History". At 9 PM a festive concert will take place with the performance of folk songs from the Strandzha region.

The Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903 broke out in the ethnic Bulgarian regions in Macedonia and Aegean Thrace which after the liberation of the country in 1878 had remained under Ottoman rule. The uprising that ended in failure aimed to overthrow the Ottoman rule so that territories populated with ethnic Bulgarians could join the young Bulgarian state to the north. It was organized by VMRO, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.

In the summer 1903 a congress with 300 delegates was held at Petrova Niva locality during which rebels decided to start the uprising. Close to 1000 rebels died during fighting against the Turkish army, 201 villages were put to fire, and 4600 civilians killed by the Turkish forces. 25,000 Bulgarians from the regions of Macedonia and Aegean Thrace emigrated to the Principality of Bulgaria in the north fearing repression.