Cambridge and Karlovo look to forge a partnership inspired by history

While the results of Bulgaria’s presidential election continue to dominate the news agenda at home, the Bulgarian community in Cambridge is busy seeking local support for an initiative of its own.

In October, the charitable organisations Little Bulgaria UK and ZI Foundation launched a campaign to establish an official sister-city partnership between the Bulgarian town of Karlovo and the British university city of Cambridge. To move the proposal forward, they need at least 500 signatures from local residents of Cambridge, regardless of their nationality. That is why representatives of the organisations were present outside the polling station for the Bulgarian elections in Cambridge on 25 October and 1 November, inviting people to sign their petition and help spread the word about a cause that could create another link between the two communities through their shared history, culture and the Bulgarians’ determination to build bridges between Bulgaria and Britain.

“We have already held a meeting with the Mayor of Cambridge, Cllr Maria Cleminson. The initiative has the backing of Karlovo Mayor Dr Emil Kabaivanov and Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough,” our compatriot Ivelina Banyalieva, a councillor in Peterborough and representative of ZI Foundation, told Radio Bulgaria.

“The next important step is to collect at least 500 signatures in support of the partnership so that we can submit the proposal for consideration by Cambridge City Council. But I want to emphasise something very important: we are not simply seeking to sign an official document or arrange a photo opportunity for the two mayors. We want a genuine partnership between the two cities: exchanges between schools, opportunities for young people, joint cultural festivals, tourism development, business contacts and educational initiatives.”

As with so much in the United Kingdom, the connection between Karlovo and Cambridge has a long history, one that provides the foundation for the initiative launched by the Bulgarian community.

“This is a particularly fascinating and little-known story. In 1876, following the brutal suppression of the April Uprising, news of the tragedy suffered by the Bulgarian people reached Britain. Exactly 150 years ago, a special meeting was held in Cambridge Guildhall, the city’s historic municipal building, to support the Bulgarians affected by the events. It brought together some highly influential figures, including the Mayor of Cambridge, the Bishop of Ely, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and the scholar James Rendel Harris.

At around the same time, the British philanthropist Lady Emily Anne Strangford organised large-scale humanitarian relief for Bulgaria and established the Bulgarian Peasant Relief Fund. With her assistance, six hospitals were built, including one in Karlovo. Even more remarkably, among the fund’s donors was Charles Darwin, a Cambridge alumnus, who contributed £15 to the cause in 1876. That sum would be equivalent to £2,246 today,” Ivelina Banyalieva explains.

“One hundred and fifty years ago, these major events took place. Today, we have the opportunity to bring the two cities together through an official sister-city partnership, building on the bond and the assistance that originated in Cambridge and Britain,” adds Mihail Stoyanov, chair of Little Bulgaria.

A total of 98 signatures were collected during the first round of Bulgaria’s presidential election on 25 October. In the following week, 65 friends of the Bulgarian community in Cambridge added their names to the petition, and on National Awakeners’ Day, the organisations’ teams secured nearly 100 more signatures in support of the initiative.

“Our plan is to make further visits to local friends of Bulgaria. Your listeners may not know that Cambridge hosts a major event called ‘Cambridge Sings and Dances’. It is a gathering of Bulgarians from across the United Kingdom, giving local people an opportunity to discover Bulgarian culture, traditions and folklore. Over the past four years, this festival has enabled us to build friendships with local organisations and other charities. Our aim over the next two weeks is to get in touch with all of them and turn this idea into reality by collecting more than 500 signatures.”

The deadline for submitting the sister-city partnership documents is 19 November 2026. The proposal is due to be considered by Cambridge City Council on 26 November.

“Put simply, on 26 November our proposal will be considered in light of the signatures we have collected, as a serious expression of local residents’ wish to see this partnership established. This is only the beginning. A final decision will not be taken at that meeting. It will most likely have to go through several City Council sessions. There is one more important point I would like to make: given the signatures collected, we expect to be invited to a City Council meeting, where we, together with our colleagues from ZI Foundation, represented by Iva Banyalieva and her team, and the team of Little Bulgaria UK, will be able to present a plan for establishing the partnership and explain the benefits it would bring. In other words, we will have the opportunity to address all the City Council representatives.”

This year’s edition of the ‘Cambridge Sings and Dances’ festival, held on 5 July, was attended in person by Cambridge Mayor Cllr Maria Cleminson, who also has family ties to Bulgaria. “Her father is a renowned Slavist who worked in Bulgaria for many years, so many of her childhood memories are connected with our country,” Iva Banyalieva explains.

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In 2025, the festival’s special guest was Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, who had visited Karlovo in person on 3 March 2023. On that occasion, he received a gold badge bearing the image of Vasil Levski from Karlovo Mayor Dr Emil Kabaivanov.

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“Karlovo is not just a small Bulgarian town. It is the birthplace of Vasil Levski, the Apostle of Freedom of our nation and a leading figure of the Bulgarian National Revival. It is also the home town of two of the greatest philanthropists in our history, the brothers Evlogi and Hristo Georgiev. Few people know that Evlogi Georgiev bequeathed six million gold leva to establish a higher education institution dedicated to advancing science, technical education and Bulgarian industry. That institution is today Sofia University ‘St Kliment Ohridski’.

The brothers’ dream was to see a strong system of education in Bulgaria, and this is where we see a wonderful symbolism. On one side we have Karlovo, the birthplace of the two great benefactors who believed that education was Bulgaria’s future. On the other, we have Cambridge, one of the world’s best-known centres of higher education and scientific research. Why not bring these two cities together and continue the work of the Georgiev brothers?” Ivelina Banyalieva concludes rhetorically.

Karlovo is also the birthplace of Hristo Prodanov, the first Bulgarian mountaineer to climb Mount Everest, while Cambridge is the home town of Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd legend and creator of the album The Wall. Whether there is symbolism in this connection, too, only time will tell. In the meantime, the campaign to gather signatures in support of a sister-city partnership between Cambridge and Karlovo continues.

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Editor: Elena Karkalanova
English editor: R. Petkova