Cyrillic Festival, 16th of May 2021

The Cyrillic festival is a vibrant multicultural event to mark the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet and to celebrate the incredible work of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius with a lot of music, dancing, craft and art. 

Countries, closely related to the celebration are Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, North Macedonia, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, etc.

300 million people from countries in Europe and Asia still use the Cyrillic alphabet today. With the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007, Cyrillic became the third official alphabet in the European Union, together with Latin and Greek.

Come to the State Library of NSW and enjoy the paintings of Dora Nikolova Bittau 'The Saints Cyril and Methodius Patrons of Europe' and the artwork of Solomiya Sywak, Alice Vigovska and Olena Vigovska. Learn interesting facts about the Cyrillic alphabet with the exposition of various informational posters and information sheets.

Learn how to write your name and other simple words in Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets.

Another activity is the paiting contest organised by The Bulgarian Language school in Sydney in collaboration with NSWFCLS on Cyrillic alphabet theme. The best paintings from each Community Language school will be displayed in Dixson Room in the State Library of NSW on 15th and 16th of May. Visitors will be able to vote for the best three paintings and an young artists.  All awarded children’s paintings from Dixson Room will be displayed at the Sydney Congress Hall during the Cyrillic Concert and the winners of the competition will be anownced at 6.35 on the 22nd of May. 

In addition at the Metcalfe Auditorium visitors will be able to see a documentry - reflections on the mission of Cyril and Methodius.