Bulgarian VP Visits Festival

Perry County is home to quite the hero and not a lot of people know about him.

Januarius MacGahan Grew up just outside of New Lexington and is regarded as the liberator of the Republic of Bulgaria. After finishing school, MacGahan became a journalist and moved to London.

“What he did for the London Daily Times was travel to Bulgaria when the people there didn’t believe what they were hearing,” said Festival Co-Chair Barbara Mooney. “What he wrote cited the Russian Army to go in and bring freedom to Bulgaria. The people of Bulgaria worship this man.”

“He told the whole world about the atrocities in Bulgaria and about how they were dying to liberate their country from the Turkish domination,” said Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria Angel Marin. “So in this way he managed to get us liberated from 500 years of Turkish domination.”

Marin says he doesn’t think Perry County is aware of the kind of hero who grew up just down the road.

“It’s a pity that not many people in the United States don’t know what MacGahan did for our nation and the Bulgarian people,” he said. “He deserves to stay in our hearts forever.”

Today ended the annual MacGahan Festival. This was the first time the vice president attended the festival.