This year’s official opening of the ski season in Bansko took place last Saturday, 13 December, bringing together both local and international winter sports lovers for a whole day of fun, entertainment and festivities. As every year, the organisers of the event surprised the audience with plenty of engaging activities for everyone, including games, competitions with appealing prizes, a music programme and festive fireworks, just to name a few. Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko again welcomed the official guests and VIPs of the event. The famous visitors savoured authentic Asian cuisine at the hotel’s Sushi Bar and Teppanyaki Grill and enjoyed an evening of exhilarating live music show at Piano Bar Sing Sing. The prominent Austrian ski champion Stephan Eberharter took a picture with the General Manager Athanassios Manos as a memory from his first visit in to the mountain resort. Meanwhile during the weekend, all guests of the hotel also had the exclusive opportunity to test drive the brand new models of Audi – Audi A6 allroad quattro and Audi A7.
The celebrations began in the morning at Bunderishka Polyana with the start of a brand new team ski race under the slogan, “Get into the champions’ team”, which was led by the three ski legends Petar Popangelov, Stephan Eberharter and Marc Girardelli. The programme also included a mass downhill of the celebrities and the children from Ulen Ski School, a live performance by Vessy Boneva and the popular game “Treasure Hunters“. Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko also contributed to the games with four exciting prizes for the lucky winners – vouchers for luxury weekend stay, a voucher for a day of relaxation at Kempinski The Spa and a dinner for two at the fine-dining Mediterranean restaurant Come Prima.
In the afternoon, the festivities continued at the town’s main square “Nikola Vaptsarov”. The crowd enjoyed a variety of attractions, including Uti Bachvarov’s culinary theatre, a concert by local folklore groups, an artistic fire show, the ethno music spectacle of musicians Kalin Veliov and Nina Nikolina and the opening of the Christmas market. The exciting day ended with festive fireworks, but afterwards the fun continued at club Happy End where DJ Mike Doyle and popular singer Nikki Belle entertained the guests until late in the night.
The ski season officially began and Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko will grant its guests again the privilege to skip all queues and directly access the Gondola cabin lift with exclusive VIP ski passes.