The US newspaper The New York Times published a broad article of journalist Sebastian Modak dedicated to the Bulgarian city Plovdiv. The columnist of the New York Times says that it took him few days to realize that Plovdiv is not a place built around tourism, but rather a booming city whose appeal to travelers can and should extend beyond the historical allure that attracts so many. Bulgaria’s second-largest city is a place of layers where artists, entrepreneurs and community leaders are as just concerned with the city’s future as as they are with its past. After describing his impressions from the neighborhood of Kapana, the Ethnographic Museum, the Old Town, the main street, the amphitheater and other tourist sites, Sebastian Modak points out that Plovdiv is one of the 52 places to visit in 2019, because it is one of 2019 European Capitals of Culture and as such there is a lot going on this year: hundreds of events spanning every art form you can think of. The author pays special attention to his meetings with renowned Plovdivian artists. More than one person I met credited them with bringing contemporary art to the fore, not just in Plovdiv, but in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe as a whole.