Bansko Athletes Write History At Special Olympics

In this week’s Buzz:

• Is it profitable to rent out your apartment in Bansko?

• Runaway car nearly runs over a child in town

• Travelling to the UK? Some restrictions come in on 2 April

• Retro Bansko Festival is back for the third year

• Two pub quizzes this week with these being their final quizzes of the season

• Lots of places have closed this weekend, and other places will close soon too

Top Five Finishes For Athletes From Bansko Competing in The Special Winter Olympics in Italy

Recently, the Special Winter Olympics took place in Turin, Italy, and Bansko had a strong presence. The Bulgarian team comprised ten individuals, five of whom were from Bansko. This resulted in one gold, one silver, and fourth and fifth-place finishes.

Mikhail Yakimov made history by being the first Bulgarian to compete in the highest advanced category in the Special Olympics. He made the top 5 of the Giant Slalom and the Super Giant Slalom and came 4th in the Slalom, just one second off being awarded the bronze medal.

Dense fog hampered visibility, and participants saw weather conditions deteriorate during the competition, but all battled on and showed great sportsmanship.

Ivan Vesiu won gold in cross-country skiing, and Asya Todorova won silver in skiing.

Read more about the athletes and the competition here and here.

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Inside the Bansko Notice Board Group

✍️ 91 New Posts, 💬 312 Comments, 👍️ 2,431 Reactions

The Storks Are Back in Town
Rachel shared a photo of the storks being back in Bansko. This signals the first day of spring and is the key sign to take off your martenitsa and tie it to a blossoming tree (read more about martenitsas and Baba Marta in issue #31 here).

Is It Profitable To Rent Your Apartment Out?
Pia asked whether anyone rents out their apartment when not in town and how much profit can you make from it. There was quite a lot of discussion with different viewpoints.

Restrictions From 2 April For Travel To The UK
From the 2nd of April, anyone travelling to the UK without a British or Irish passport (or a long-term visa, etc) must register for the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). It’s supposed to be quick and easy to do online.

I’m Thinking About a Hike To Vihren Hut & Lunch. Is It Open?
Valeria asked if anyone knows whether Vihren Hut is open at the moment because she wants to hike up there and eat lunch. See what people’s thoughts were.

Has Anyone Tried This Place Over At Pirin Golf?
Neil posted a photo of Golden Hands over at Pirin Golf and wondered if anyone had been there and recommended it. See what people had to say.

(The above posts are publicly accessible. You don’t need a Facebook account to view.)

Local/Municipality News

Car Slips Out of Gear And Nearly Runs Over a Child 🤯 
The local municipality shared footage of a parent’s car slipping out of gear, rolling away, and nearly running over a child on Father Paisii Street (near Banski Aiduti). They had parked on the curb to drop a child off at school. The municipality also reminded people that they should use the 20 minutes of free parking in the car park on this street. See video here.

Bansko Welcomes Freeride World Tour Qualifier
The weekend Bansko welcomed the Freeride World Tour Qualifier as well as the junior version that was re-scheduled. In the main event, there were over 65 participants, and Bulgarians featured in 3rd place for the men’s snowboarding, 1st and 2nd for the women’s skiing, and 1st & 3rd for the women’s snowboarding. Read more [translation required].

Bansko Younsters Do Well in Borovets
Young skiing hopefuls, aged 8 to 12 years, took part in the Giant Slalom championships in Borovets. Despite some harsh weather conditions, young people from Bansko’s Yulen team won a number of medals and upper finishing places in a number of different categories. Over 200 individuals took part in the event. Read more.

Bansko Welcomes Serbian Folklore Festival
This week, Bansko welcomed over 500 people to the Serbian Folklore Festival in town. Participants came from Bulgaria and Serbia to participate in the event to preserve cultre and traditions and build a stronger bond between the two countries. Read more.

Bansko Celebrates Forest Week
This week, the local municipality took on its mission to plant shrubs, flowers and bushes as part of Forest Week: an initiative to preserve nature and enrich green areas. Students from the 9th (14-15) and 12th (17-18) grades of Nikola Vaptsarov School helped with landscaping in the park. Planting more trees and bushes will continue over the next few weeks. More info.

Recommended Businesses

Shared airport transfers from Sofia to Bansko with Traventuria. Get to Bansko quickly and in style. Always on time. Check availability.

Shop on Amazon & get packages delivered to Bansko with GGBG. Regular transport from the UK, Germany and the USA to Bulgaria. See website for info.

Travelling out of your home country in 2025? Get travel insurance designed by travellers. True Traveller: one policy to cover all of your activities. Learn more.

Want two beers or two wines for 8 BGN? That’s Happy Hour at The Hub, every day from 4pm to 6pm until the end of the season.

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Events Next Week

Bansko Street Dogs Pub Quiz
Tomorrow (Monday 24th), Bansko Street Dogs will host the final pub quiz of the winter season at Smokey Mountain from 7.30pm. The quiz is currently full and has a waitlist. Expect the BSD quiz nights to come back in around 4 to 8 weeks time.

Oil Painting and Wine Evening
Why not sit back, relax with a glass of wine and paint a nice painting? Takes place on Tuesday (25th) at Altspace central location (here). The 30 BGN entry fee gets you all the painting stuff you need and some wine. Message Altspace to book.

Bottomless Wings & Drinks Night
On Tuesday (25th), an epic evening of indulgence awaits you at Smokey Mountain: an unlimited amount of different flavoured chicken wings, and drinks, for 50 BGN. Two sittings of 6.30pm and 8.30pm where you get 90 minutes to eat & drink all you want. Message Smokey Mountain to book (reservation required). This is the final wings night of the winter season.

Pub Quiz at D & Vino
On Thursday (27th), at 8pm at their venue on Glazne Street (14a), they will have a pub quiz. There will be questions about flora and fauna, and other events that happen in spring. The entrance fee is 10 BGN, and this will be their last quiz of the winter season. More info.

Splitboard Festival 2025
This is an event over three days for splitboarders. You will need appropriate equipment to participate and the fee is 190 BGN. It starts on Thursday (27th) from 12 noon and continues for the next few days. More info [translation required].

Bongo Bingo at The Hub
The Hub will have their popular Bongo Bingo night this coming Friday (28th) evening, from 7.30pm. Booking required.

Retro Bansko Fest 2025
Retro Bansko is back for its third year and is over three days. Meeting first from 3pm to 7pm in front of Totem Ski shop on Pirin Street on Friday (28th). On Saturday (29th) is the full party with retro gear on the mountain, starting at 10am, meeting at the fun park on Plato (desecnt will happen at 12noon). Apres Ski will be from 2.30pm, but the location is TBC. No details as yet on the events for Sunday. All details available here [translation required].

Sunday Walking Club (raising money for local charity)
Want to learn some different routes to walk/hike around Bansko? Why not join the walking club that walk/hike most Sunday mornings from 11am. Usual meeting place is somewhere around the gondola, and some people take their dogs. A 5 BGN participation fee is asked, which is then donated to the local street dogs non-profit, Bansko Street Dogs. Keep an eye on the Bansko Notice Board group for details.

Photo of the Week

One day it was snowing all over Bansko. The next? Glorious sunshine.

Tag @banskobuzz to get your photo in the Buzz.