On 22 July 1878, 12 battalions of volunteer units who had participated in war, formed the Bulgarian Armed Forces. May 6 was officially pronounced as the Day of the Bulgarian Army in 1880. Although it was outlawed during the communist period but was reinstated in 1998, this function was moved to 9 September, the national day of Bulgaria under communist rule.
The celebrations were the largest since 2009, with more than 1,300 military personnel, aircraft and armoured vehicles being involved in the parade. The Bulgarian Air Force’s MiG-29 jet fighters, SU-25s, Mi-17 and Cougar helicopters and other aircraft took part in the parade.
2017
Three MiG-29 jets, two Cougar Helicopters and one Mi-17 helicopter parade, which was commanded by Air Force Major General.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria, the annual parade was cancelled with the Defence Minister ordering small scale celebrations at military academies instead. When questioned on this while peaking at a special sitting of the National Assembly of Bulgaria on April 28, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov confirmed this, saying: "There will be no parade. How could there be a parade on May 6? Where would people stand?" The possibility of a small demonstration by parachutists on the morning of May 6 was also looked into by the minister.
As Armed Forces Day is the national military holiday of Bulgaria the celebrations in Sofia thus serve as a national event to mark the holiday. The celebrations officially begin at 9am with the laying of flowers at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier by President of Bulgaria and members of government. The celebrations then continue as the parade commander arrives to take his place in the parade and receives the salutes of the Commandant, Georgi Rakovski Military Academy, reporting on the readiness of the formations at the Prince Alexander of Battenberg Square. At 10am, after a fanfare is sounded by the Guards Band of the National Guards Unit or/and the other bands within the Massed Bands of the Sofia Garrison, the President arrives and the parade commander marches towards him, informing that the parade is now ready for inspection. He then inspects the band and upon reaching the color guard of the National Guards Unit, he then pays compliments to the Flag of Bulgaria and to the massed military colours. He then inspects each of the participating parade contingents, stopping each time to greet each of the formed troops and as the inspection ends, he then approaches a makeshift saluting base at the National Art Gallery where after a fanfare has been sounded, he then makes his holiday address to the nation. As the address concludes the parade commander shouts While the entire parade responses with a long Oorah!, the Band then sounds the final measures of the Armed Forces Hymn Great are our Soldiers, and as the parade presents arms, Mila Rodino is then played with a 21-gun salute. The parade is then ordered to order arms and to stand at ease, and afterward the parade marches off the square in preparation for the march past as a Bulgarian Air Force helicopter commences the flypast carrying the national flag. The drummers of the massed bands beat a cadence as the parade marches off the square, reforming at its southern end for the march past to begin later on led by the parade commander.
