The paper is a case study illuminating the role of events in pushing forward a revisionist historical narrative that aims at legitimizing contemporary Bulgarian national populism. The event in mind, Lukov March, which started as a marginal commemoration of a pro-fascist interwar leader, has become a major battle in the memory and historical politics of the post-socialist Balkan country. Despite being initially supported by only a dozen radical nationalists, the event offered a "template of possibility" for the rising Bulgarian far right to revive the interwar roots of Bulgarian nationalism. At its 16th anniversary, Lukov March symbolizes much more than a mere manifestation of Bulgaria's nationalism – it reveals the danger of leaving memory politics and historical debates into the hands of extreme nationalists who might themselves be pushed aside by the more politically adept national populists. On a larger scale, the chapter gives insights into the memory politics in contemporary Bulgaria, the nature of Bulgarian populism and how national populists have profited from the convergence of memory politics and populism in the last two decades. Applying populism's Manichean division to mnemonic debates, national populists have adopted diverse strategies to construct revisionist historical narratives that ultimately call into question and redefine the crucial concepts of national self and identity as well as the memory and lessons of Europe's violent 20th century.
