Hundreds of guests attended the reception to celebrate Israel's 75th Independence Day at the Astoria Hotel in Sofia organized by the Embassy of Israel in Bulgaria.

The reception saw the participation of representatives of different ministries and government institutions, ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps, members of parliament, members of the Jewish community, professionals from the academia, media and business sectors and many more. Nikola Stoyanov, the Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Industry, and Irena Georgieva the Deputy Minister of Tourism also attended the event.

The evening opened with a screening of the legendary video of David Ben-Gurion announcing the establishment of the State of Israel.

The cultural program of the event included the performance of singer Narya Hovav, owner of several recording albums, along with musician and musical producer Moshe Danino, producer of many recording albums of some of Israel's top artists.

The two performed legendary Israeli hits, including songs which represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest in the 80's.

Ambassador of Israel in Bulgaria Yoram Elron greeted the two and thanked them for coming especially from Israel to honor this event. It was their first visit to Bulgaria, and hopefully not their last.

The event also included a folk dance performance by the students of the local "Ort" Jewish school.

The guests of the reception especially enjoyed a unique photo booth, where people could take a picture with the background of an iconic location in Israel, such as the Western Wall, and the Dead Sea.