Elk Grove Village Officials Welcome Surva Exhibition at Public Library

Elk Grove Village officials attended an opening ceremony hosted by the Bulgarian Consul for a photography exhibition at the Elk Grove Village Public Library on Friday, July 12.

The exhibit, which will be open for the next month, showcases photographs from the Surva International Festival of Masquerade Games. The Surva festival takes place in Pernik, Bulgaria, the village's Friendship City.

In November 2018, a delegation from Pernik visited Elk Grove Village to sign an official Friendship Agreement between the two communities.

The village has become home to a large population of Bulgarian immigrants and, over the years, multiple weekend Bulgarian schools have been established in the area, including Little Bulgarian School, which holds classes at Elk Grove High School.

In creating the Friendship Agreement, both Elk Grove Village and Pernik committed to building a relationship to exchange educational, cultural and economic developments.

Ivan Anchev, the Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Chicago, collaborated with Elk Grove Village Trustee Pat Feichter and the Elk Grove Public Library to bring a piece of Bulgarian tradition to the Elk Grove Village community.