Varna Summer International Music Festival is the first music festival in Bulgaria, founded in 1926 in Varna.
One hundred years ago, shortly after the official opening of the Varna Sea Baths in 1926 - the first SPA center in the seaside city - prominent figures of Varna’s cultural community, including the composers Pancho Vladigerov and Dobri Hristov, laid the foundations of the first national music celebrations in Bulgaria. These celebrations later evolved into the country’s largest International Music Festival.
Programme 2026
June 27, 08:00 p.m. - Official Opening 2026
Festival and Congress Center, Hall 1
June 29, 07:00 p.m. - Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Belgium
Varna State Opera, Stage Filial
June 30, 07:00 p.m. - CAMERATA Salzburg and The Spirit of Mozart
Festival and Congress Center, Hall 1
July 01, 07:00 p.m. - Cafe Elektric - an Austrian silent-era film, accompanied on piano by Gerhard Gruber
Varna Radio Concert Studio
July 02, 07:00 p.m. - From Cyprus to Ireland
Varna State Opera, Stage Filial
July 04, 07:00 p.m. - 100 Years of Oscar Peterson
Varna State Opera, Stage Filial
July 05, 07:00 p.m. - Music for Quintet
City Art Gallery
July 06 - 11 - Violin masterclasses with Prof. Mincho Minchev
"Dobri Hristov" National School of Arts
July 06 - 09 - Piano masterclasses with Prof. Lyudmil Angelov
"Dobri Hristov" National School of Arts
July 08 - 12 - 0pera singing masterclasses with Emil Ivanov
"Dobri Hristov" National School of Arts
July 09, 07:00 p.m. - Concert of participants of masterclasses with Prof. Lyudmil Angelov
City Art Gallery
July 09 - Percussions masterclasses with Vivi Vasileva
"Dobri Hristov" National School of Arts
July 10, 08:30 p.m. - Vibrations and Strings
Courtyard of the Archaeological Museum
July 11, 07:00 p.m. - Concert of participants of masterclasses with Prof. Mincho Minchev
City Art Gallery
July 11 - 14 - Violin masterclasses with Dimitar Burov
"Dobri Hristov" National School of Arts
July 12, 07:00 p.m. - Concert of participants of masterclasses with Emil Ivanov
City Art Gallery
July 12, 08:30 p.m.- Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale, USA
Courtyard of the Archaeological Museum
July 14, 07:00 p.m. - Concert of participants of masterclasses with Dimitar Burov
City Art Gallery
July 23, 07:00 p.m. - Concert dedicated to the very beginning – 23.07.1926
Festival and Congress Center, Hall 1
July 24, 07:00 p.m. - Vienna Chamber Orchestra performs Mozart
Varna State Opera, Main Stage
July 25, 07:00 p.m.- Paganini Ensemble Vienna
Varna State Opera / Main Stage
July 28, 07:00 p.m. - Trio Veselin Demirev, Yoanna Prodanova and Galin Ganchev
City Art Gallery
July 30, 07:00 p.m. - Concert in the style of Vladigerov
City Art Gallery
August 18, 2026, 07:00 p.m. - Youth Symphony Orchestra of the European Union
Festival and Congress Centre, Hall 1
August 21, 2026, 08:00 p.m. - WONDROUS MACHINE
Courtyard of the Archaeological Museum
September 1-3, 2026 - International Symposium dedicated to Slavic music
City Art Gallery
September 6, 2026, 07:00 p.m. - Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Hall “Congressna”, Palace of Culture and Sports
Under the honorary patronage of H.E. Irene Maria Plank, Ambassador of Germany to Bulgaria
September 11, 2026, 07:00 p.m. - Concentus Musicus Wien
Festival and Congress Centre, Hall 1
Under the honorary patronage of H.E. Andrea Ikić-Böhm, Ambassador of Austria to Bulgaria
With the kind support of the Austrian Cultural Forum Sofia
September 13, 2026, 07:00 p.m. - Virtuosos of La Scala, Milan
Festival and Congress Centre, Hall 1
Under the honorary patronage of H.E. Marcello Apicella, Ambassador of Italy to Bulgaria
October - Exhibition dedicated to the opera “Tsar Kaloyan” by Pancho Vladigerov, provided by the Pancho Vladigerov House Museum
Rotunda, Drama Theatre “Stoyan Bachvarov”
October 14, 2026, 07:00 p.m. - Official Closing, BBC Symphony Orchestra London
Hall “Congressna”, Palace of Culture and Sports
Venues: Festival and congress center, City art gallery, Summer theater, Aula of the University of Economics, Archaeological museum
Organiser: Varna Municipality, Culture and Spiritual Development Directorate
Contact person: Plamena Tsoneva - tel.: +35952820669; +359888630092
