The 42nd Apollonia Festival of Arts opened at the Apollonia Amphitheatre in Sozopol on Thursday, with speakers and messages from state leaders highlighting the festival’s role in protecting creative freedom, connecting artists and audiences, strengthening Bulgarian culture and supporting cultural tourism.
Earlier, festival exhibitions opened across the town with works by Ivan Milev, contemporary artists, jazz posters and graduate projects. More than 70 events spanning music, theatre, literature, cinema and visual arts will continue until September 6.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev, in a message marking the opening, described Apollonia as a major and firmly established Bulgarian cultural event. He said it helped shape contemporary Bulgarian culture by affirming art as a space for the free spirit and bold creative ideas while bringing artists and audiences together.
President Iliana Iotova said in a greeting to the organizers, read by actor Rashko Mladenov, that Apollonia had united outstanding creative figures and loyal audiences for more than four decades. She described art as a refuge offering peace, harmony and strength in a troubled world and noted that more than 700 authors and performers would take part in 70 events.
Ahead of the ceremony, Culture Minister Evtim Miloshev described engagement with art and creativity as an inherent human impulse towards freedom of the spirit. When he officially opened the festival, he called Apollonia “a symbol of the freedom of the human spirit”, praised its pairing of young talent with established cultural figures and said Bulgaria had endured for 14 centuries through spirituality, culture, writing and language.
Tourism Minister Ilin Dimitrov said Apollonia had long been combining culture with tourism and had helped establish Sozopol as a cultural destination. He said this was exactly the kind of tourism Bulgaria wanted to develop, noting that 2026 had been declared the Year of Cultural Tourism.
National Assembly Deputy Chair Ivan Angelov called Apollonia a hub of culture and spirituality where artists meet friends, supporters and people committed to Bulgaria’s cultural development. He said the festival had been part of the country’s cultural life for more than four decades and combined culture, spirituality, art and “a touch of perfection”.
Sozopol Mayor Tihomir Yanakiev called culture and art food for the soul and described Apollonia as a landmark in Bulgaria’s cultural life. He thanked the organizers, artists, performers and backstage teams who had sustained the festival and wished it fair winds and success.
Festival Director and Apollonia Foundation Executive Director Margarita Dimitrova welcomed the audience to a celebration shared by artists and the public. She described Apollonia as music, cinema, literature and visual art—everything people loved from the heart—and thanked the institutions, sponsors, partners and media that had supported it.
Kazanlak Art Gallery Director Plamen Petrov said the two Kazanlak exhibitions presented distinct stories with a “common diagnosis”. The Ivan Milev exhibition went beyond the artist’s familiar public image to connect his work, personal fate and experiences during the First World War, while The Islands Within Us explored artists’ attempts to create inner spaces away from social clichés.
International Triennial of Stage Poster organizer Prof. Bozhidar Yonov said this year’s visual art was of a very high standard.
Curator Albena Spasova said the jazz poster exhibition featured works by 39 contemporary artists from around the world and across generations, including pieces shown at the first Triennial in 1995.
Diana Yakova of Philip Morris Bulgaria said the Change the Picture display focused on cigarette butt litter and showed around 30 posters selected from approximately 120 competition entries.
Apollonia has been held since 1984. BTA is a media partner of the festival and will take part in its The Price of Success series on September 1, presenting the 12 issues of BTA’s LIK magazine published since the previous edition of Apollonia.
