From the 30^th of September to the 2^nd of October the fourteenth international competition for young pop singers "Silver Yantra" was held in Veliko Tarnovo.

The competition ended with a big gala concert of the winners in the Music and Drama Theater "Constantine Kisimov" in the city. The Grand Prize for 2016 went to the 16-year-old Radko Petrov from the city of Troyan. The Silver Yantra Grand Prize was won by a boy for the second time.

This year the competition was attended by over 80 young talents from eight countries. They were aged from 5 to 25 years, divided into four age groups. The competition was held under the patronage of the Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo – Engineer Daniel Panov, who offered a special prize. It was won by the young singer from Stara Zagora Gergana Todorova. Her prize was presented by Nelina Tsarova - Director of Culture and Tourism in the municipality. A special prize was also given by the President of the Veliko Tarnovo Municipal Council -Ventsislav Spiridonov. It was won by Mara Paparau from Romania.

Among the guests of the contest the young Moldovan star Lydia Isaac, who represented her country at Eurovision 2015 in Stockholm undoubtedly stood out. A former winner of "Silver Yantra", she made a brief recital at the Gala Concert. She was given flowers by the ambassador of Moldova in Bulgaria - H. E. Mr. Ştefan Gorda, himself, who along with his wife was among the guests at the closing ceremony of the competition. For the first time a diplomat of such high rank honored the VelikoTarnovo competition with his presence.

A day before the Gala Concert on the 1st of October, the Deputy Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo - prof. Georgi Kamarashev, held a meeting with the members of the international jury and the special guests of "Silver Yantra" in the Town Hall. It was attended by: the Director of the competition Rumyana Natcheva, the chairman of the jury - Assoc. Alis Bovaryan, a professor at the National Music Academy "Prof. PanchoVladigerov" , the doyen of the jury – the pop singer Hristo Paskalev - Pascal, the producer Catalin Dascalu /Romania /, Rodica Roshioru /Moldova/ the young Bulgarian singer Antonia Markova and others. In their conversation they emphasized the importance of the competition for the cultural life in the city and its future. The guests were given luxury albums of the town of VelikoTarnovo.

Photos: "Diplomatic spectrum" magazine and "Silver Yantra - 2003" association

1. The jury
2. The winner Radko Petrov left the city with the Silver Yantra Grand Prix statuette created by the sculptor from VelikoTarnovo Chavdar Velchev and with a € 1,000 cash award from the ice-cream factory "Deni".
3. The jury President - Assoc. Alis Bovaryan, professor at the National Music Academy "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov "awarded the prize
4. The doyen of the jury, the pop singer Hristo Paskalev– Pascal with the distinguished singer
5,6,7, 8. Participants in the Gala Concert. Some of them received invitations to the upcoming festivals - in Malta, Romania and Moldova.
9. The Moldovan star Lydia Isaac made a brief recital
10. Lydia Isaac, the Ambassador of Moldova - H.E. Mr. Stefan Gorda, and the director of the competition Rumyana Natcheva
11. After the concert. Top / left to right: Hristo Paskalev - Pascal, Sergei Orlov, producer of Eurovision Moldova and H.E. Mr. Stefan Gorda. Down / left to right: Claudio Boule, producer from Romania, Rumyana Natcheva, Lydia Gorda- wife of the Moldovan Ambassador, Lydia Isaac, Antonia Markova singer and member of the jury and Ekaterina Pavlova, chief editor of the "Diplomatic spectrum" magazine.
12. Members of the jury and guests of the contest in front of VelikoTarnovo Municipality after the meeting with the Deputy Mayor prof. Georgi Kamarashev / mid /