This Saturday could be just another ordinary day but not for Bulgarian Illustration publishing house, the Society of Animalists, Florists and Scientific Illustrators, the National Museum of Natural History and all who join the al fresco they organize to celebrate the Draw a Bird Day together. The event will take place in Sofia’s South Park where over 65 species of birds twitter in the morning, including great and blue tits, jays, ducks, blackbirds and even squirrels (they don’t sing but jump around).

The story of this unusual holiday begins in London back in 1943. Seven-year-old Dorie Cooper visited her uncle in the hospital who was lying there depressed because he had lost one of his legs in World War II. Her attempts to cheer him up failed, so she asked him to draw her a bird. A funny childish robin appeared on the white sheet which made the little girl laugh. Dorie kept the drawing while her uncle felt enthused by her laughter to look on the bright side of life. To achieve this, he drew a bird every time he expected Dorie to visit him. Other patients joined and the gray hospital walls were quickly revitalized with colorful bird drawings. Three years later Dorie died in a car accident. At her funeral, doctors, nurses and soldiers covered her coffin with bird drawings. Since then, 8 April — Dorie’s birthday, has been celebrated as Draw a Bird Day.

With the course of time, art teachers began to use the holiday as an occasion to inspire confidence in the budding little artists, parents — to help their kids develop empathy for the feathered creatures, and nature lovers — to share their fondness for the great diversity and beauty of the bird kingdom.

On 8 April, Saturday, at 11 a.m. by the Big Lake the organizers of the al fresco will be expecting everyone who wants to participate with a sketchbook, pencils, crayons, paints or a camera in hand, and their colorful drawings will be exhibited at the National Museum of Natural History by the end of the month. Those who do not have the opportunity to go to South Park will be able to participate online by sending photos of their works to milena@bulgarian-illustration.com until 24 April 2023, and Bulgarian Illustration publishing house will soon continue the theme of our feathered friends in urban environment with a special edition.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria and in partership with the National Museum of Natural History, the Society of Animalists, Florists and Scientific Illustrators and Bulgarian Illustration publishing house.