The stage of the City Culture Center will be hosting the Second Autumn Gala of the mountain-tourist choirs, November 8th (Saturday). Choirs from all over the country will take place in the event, dedicated to the Day of the National Revival Leaders and Enlighteners. Organizers of this gala concert are the Plovdiv Municipality and the Shipka Mountain-Tourism Society. Here is a valuable opinion on the song in general: ? The song has always been the closest expression of one?s thoughts and feelings, since it derives from the heart. It accompanies the man in joy or sorrow, in his daily relax, and when coming into battles. The song is a true art, which makes people get closer and be friends, it directly affects the thoughts and feelings ? not only of individuals but also whole groups, and the society as a whole..? (Philip Avramov).In 1903, Bulgarian mountain tourists acquired their own anthem-song, based on the poem ?Balkans? by the eminent Bulgarian poet Kiril Hristov. That song was called the ?The Tourist Choir?. Later, in 1908, Prof.Benyo Tsonev wrote the lyrics to a tourist march, called ?The Tourist March Song?. The anthem and the march served to prove the essential importance of the tourist song to the first followers of the famous ?mountain tourists?, Aleko Konstantinov and Ivan Vazov (two of the greatest Bulgarian writers, famous for their admiration to the natural beauties of our country, and also for being ardent mountain hikers). Amateur tourist choirs were founded one after another in various towns ? Varna, Petrich, Stara Zagora, Vratsa, Vidin, Bourgas, Assenovgrad, Samokov, Kardzhali, Aprilci, and many others. The 90th anniversary of the Bulgarian Tourism Union will be celebrated with the participation of 58 mountain-tourist choirs from all over Bulgaria. The mountain-tourist song has always admired the beauty of Bulgaria?s nature and Bulgaria?s past. Words, sounds and melodies give life to mountains, fields, valleys, forests, lakes, mountain peaks, and the whole nature. Therefore, it is a song that comes easy not only to the mountain-tourists, but to each and everyone. Its impact also derives from the fact that the amateur singers participate in the choirs out of true love to nature and music. It is that love that makes the tourist song so successful and popular. It has been made apparent during such galas, which already turned into a tradition ?