130 philatelists from 14 countries are exhibiting thematic collections at the International Philatelic Exhibition BALKANFILA 2010 to be held from 28 to 31 October in Pavilion 7 of International Fair Plovdiv. The most valuable postage stamps are on display behind armoured glass.
At the same time, the national exhibition centre is launching a new event, the International Collectors Fair BULCOLLECTO organized for the first time in Bulgaria. This event, which is held under the motto "Collecting – Hobby, Culture, Investment", is bringing together collectors and related businesses. Philately, numismatics and other similar collecting activities are considered an intellectual pursuit and a good investment opportunity at the same time, because as a rule the value of the collectors items increases in the course of time.
The exhibition presents philatelists and numismatists, companies for collector's accessories, an auction house, a model exposition of 10 emblematical buildings, as well as a collection of attractive old-timer cars. The organizers have taken special security measures to protect the valuable items.
The forums are major cultural event according to Spas Panchev, President of the Union of the Bulgarian Philatelists and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of BALKANFILA 2010. Bulgaria has been hosting this renowned event for the forth time, this time under the patronage of the Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, Alexander Tsvetkov.
On display at BALKANFILA 2010 are some of the most attractive collections from the Balkan countries as well as invited collections from Russia and the USA. Along with the exhibits owned by Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotta and Ivan Slavkov, visitors to the exhibition will be able to view the collections of Earl Galitz from the United States and Nikolay Mandrovski from Russia. These collections are thematically related to Bulgaria and are among the best in Europe and in the world. Exhibits awarded gold medals at international philatelic exhibitions will be presented in a special class of honour called "Bulgarian Philatelic Gems". The competitive exhibits will be assessed by an international jury.
The most valuable Bulgarian misprint postage stamp, estimated at 25,000 euro, will be displayed at the exhibition. Only 5 or 6 such stamps of the total of 25 spread worldwide are still in Bulgaria. Very rare postage stamps printed in the period 1935-1940 will also be exhibited. The public will vote for the most beautiful Bulgarian postage stamp 2010 in a competition featuring 42 postage stamps, and the winner will enter the world competition in Vienna. The production of the Bulgarian Post AD from 2006 to 2009, comprising 120 postage stamps, envelops and cachets, is presented in the official class.
The accompanying programme of BALKANFILA 2010 includes a Youth Contest, a Hobby Section for coins, medals, pins and ex libris, a Children's Philatelic Creative Works Gallery. Each of the four days of the event is dedicated to a specific topic: "Bulgarian Philately", "Balkan Postal Cooperation", "International Fair Plovdiv" and "Europe".