Daniel Panov, Mayor of the Veliko Tarnovo Municipality told us more:

"The idea for organizing Stage of the Ages was born in 1985 on the occasion of national celebrations of the 800th anniversary of establishing the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. "Ivaylo" by Marin Goleminov was the first performance presented by the Sofia Opera. Its director was Plamen Kartalov. In 2008 the festival was restored in relation to the 100th anniversary of the Independence of Bulgaria. Since then this opera and ballet festival has been taking place in Velko Tarnovo every year. Under the open sky on Tsarevets guests enjoy the performances part of the program of "Stage of the Ages." This year the event is an important part of Tarnovo’s application for European Capital of Culture 2019. The municipality sees this as an opportunity to develop festival tourism. In the audience there will be guests from Romania, Greece, Russia, Israel, and England. Our goal is the festival to start taking place in the whole of August and not to last just for a period of 10 days. The project we are currently working on is related to cooperation between outdoor opera festivals. We have initiated the establishment of an association of cities that organize similar forums. Along with Italian "Arena di Verona", there are such open-air opera festivals in Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Savonlinna /Finland / etc. We have already established contacts with some of their organizers. I am convinced this network will provide unique opportunities to directors and artists.”

The festival stage is once again situated on a historic site - the ancient palace of Bulgarian kings. More about "Stage of the Ages 2014" from Tsvetomir Boyadziev, manager of the municipal travel agency "Tsarevgrad Tarnov:"

"This year's program is rich. Traditionally we used to have three performances but now their number is 5. On August 2 and 3^rd guests will enjoy "Madame Butterfly." Two ballet nights follow after that with "Giselle" and "Zorba the Greek." During the weekend (August 9-10) the one-act operas Cavalleria rusticana and Gianni Schicchi will be performed. These operas enjoy great interest among the audience in Sofia and I hope they will be well-received by the audience in Tsarevets. In addition to the main program of "Stage of the Ages" there are other cultural events. People can see retrospective screenings of performances from previous editions of the festival. The meetings of the soloists of the Sofia Opera with their fans held in the lapidarium of the Archaeological Museum have also become a tradition. We also have "Backstage Tour, which lets lovers of this art have the opportunity to peek behind the stage and see how performances are organized. During the days of the festival the traditional "Sound and Light Show," which residents and guests to the city have enjoyed for the past 30 years, will also take place. The show has not lost its appeal over the years and it has actually turned into a trademark of the city.”

English: Alexander Markov