Danube Day is celebrated on June 29 - the date on which the Convention on the Protection of the Danube River was signed. Every year on this day, the countries of the Danube Basin come together to celebrate one of Europe’s largest river systems, as well as the people and wildlife that depend on it.

This year’s campaign is held under the motto “United by the Danube.” From its source to its delta, the river flows through Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine. The Danube basin covers an area of 817 000 sq km. The river has 120 major tributaries and even more smaller ones, thus forming a vast watershed. The Danube connects 81 million people along its 2 859 km course and unites diverse languages, cultures, and histories. The basin is characterized by an exceptional diversity of ecosystems and habitats for plant and animal species.

The Danube Day campaign aims to encourage all people living in the Danube basin to raise their awareness and take an active role in protecting the river and its tributaries. Detailed information is available on the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River’s special Danube Day webpage - http://www.danubeday.org/. The national coordinator for Bulgaria is the Ministry of Environment and Water and the Danube Region Basin Directorate.

The program for celebrating Danube Day in Bulgaria includes a variety of initiatives - cleanup drives, informational and environmental campaigns, festivals, open-air art events, concerts, and exhibitions, as well as various city-wide celebrations organized by regional and municipal administrations along the Bulgarian stretch of the Danube, as well as by associations and civic initiatives.

For yet another year, Bulgarian students aged 6 to 18, along with their peers from all Danube countries, can participate in the traditional international “Danube Art Master” competition. The competition is organized by the Global Water Partnership in Central and Eastern Europe (GWP CEE) and the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), and encourages children to take a closer look at their local river, reflect on what the environment means to them, and create original works of art, photography, or video. The competition is held at two levels: national and international. Detailed information can be found here

The Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River was signed by the Danube countries in Sofia on 29 June 1994. It is the strategic document upon which international cooperation for the protection of one of Europe’s most significant rivers and its tributaries is based. Danube Day was first celebrated on 29 June 2004, at the suggestion of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River.