After Bulgaria's triumph at “Eurovision 2026“, Sofia Municipality and Bulgarian National Television organize an open city party
The event will take place tomorrow at 18:00 at “Prince Alexander I Battenberg“ Square, and from 18:45 BNT will broadcast it live. Fans can welcome DARA to an unforgettable “Banagaranga“ party in the center of Sofia. The host of the musical event will be Boryana Gramatikova – head of the Bulgarian delegation at “Eurovision 2026“ and host of the show “Otblizo“. The signal will be submitted to the EBU, from where it can also be used through internal international video exchange.
First direct results for the economy literally hours after the victory at „Eurovision“ - boom in hotel reservations.
Over a million visits to the websites of major municipalities in our country by foreigners are reported by the Institute for Analysis and Evaluation in Tourism. Increased interest of foreigners in Bulgaria just a day after the historic victory of DARA at „Eurovision“, is reported by the Institute for Analysis and Evaluation in Tourism.Rumen Draganov, Institute for Analysis and Evaluation in Tourism:
„I can say that since yesterday Bulgaria has been different. Extremely strong interest in our country. The sites that are related to information about Bulgaria, this is the main site SeeBulgaria, and also those of the Sofia Municipality, Plovdiv Municipality, Burgas, Vratsa, Stara Zagora, Tarnovo are extremely visited. We have over 1 million visits in just 24 hours.“ Boom in hotel reservations for next year, although the dates on which Bulgaria will host “Eurovision“ in our country are still not clear.
Iva Gatseva, Secretary of the Bulgarian Hotel Association: “It is as if Bulgaria woke up different this morning. It appeared on the map of Europe in a dizzying way. A large number of colleagues share that they have, how should I say, a wave of reservations that appeared on the very night, the very end, of the “Eurovision“ final. Specific dates have been booked next year, more or less around this period.“ It turns out that those wishing to watch “Eurovision“ in Bulgaria next year are not only interested in hotels and places of accommodation.
Rumen Draganov, Chairman of the Tourism Board: “What they are interested in at the moment are the transport connections – the bus lines that connect Sofia with other cities. And also extremely important is the positioning of the hotels themselves in search engines in terms of the prices they have. They must have price options.“ And hoteliers are already sounding the alarm about a problem that must be solved by the next “Eurovision“.
Iva Gatseva, Secretary of the Bulgarian Hotel Association: “A big problem continues to be flight connectivity. That is, tourists cannot wish to come if there are not enough flights, which we are actively fighting for.“Due to the expected influx of spectators at the next “Eurovision“ another big problem may be the capacity of the airports and the lack of a sufficiently large fleet of rental cars. If the capital hosts the final, then an accelerated completion of metro station next to the “Arena Sofia“ hall.
However, which city will be the host of the contest next year? Four cities are fighting for it - Sofia, Burgas, Varna and Plovdiv. What are the pros and cons of each of them?
Sofia is the natural host of “Eurovision”, believe the city government. And they also set an example by the fact that in just 24 hours they managed to build the stage for DARA tomorrow on “Batenberg” square, which is the same as the New Year's and which usually requires a month of preparation.
Irina Dakova, Deputy Mayor “Culture and Tourism“ of the Sofia Municipality: “I don't think there should be a competition, I think that winning “Eurovision” is an appeal to all of us to be united. Everyone knows and assumes that we will offer "Arena" Sofia, I dare to say that it is also not enough and additional things will be needed, additional infrastructure, construction of additional facilities, because the scale is extremely large. And I believe that Sofia is the natural center in terms of developed infrastructure - this is Sofia Airport, this is the bed base."
The second largest city in our country - Plovdiv, also believes that it can host. Mayor Kostadin Dimitrov also allowed Botev's stadium to accommodate thousands of spectators, but reconstruction must be done.
Kostadin Dimitrov, Mayor of Plovdiv: "If we want amenities in terms of an airport and a hall, Sofia is a favorite in this direction, but that's it. If we want a city that is a European capital of culture, a living city, a city that is the oldest living city in Europe, Plovdiv has proven in its history that it is a very good host. We have several options - the sports hall "Kolodrum" has insufficient capacity, but it can be upgraded, the "Botev" stadium could also be one of the locations".
The Tourism Advisory Council will convene in the seaside capital. In addition, at the next session of the municipal council, DARA will be voted to become an honorary citizen of Varna.
Blagomir Kotsev, Mayor of Varna Municipality: "First, Varna is the hometown of DARA and the third largest city, and I would say the most beautiful city in Bulgaria. In addition, Varna is a sea capital, has exceptional connectivity, we have a large bed base, we also have a hall in which this can happen. The sports hall has a capacity of 6 thousand people."
Burgas, part of the start of the Giro D'Italia offers its "Arena" Burgas, including 1200 parking spaces. According to the mayor, it is the modern base, good infrastructure and the location of the city that make Burgas an excellent option for hosting the contest.
Dimitar Nikolov, Mayor of Burgas: "Personally, my wish is a fair competition, it is important for us that Bulgaria presents itself in the best possible way." We have a hall with 7,000 seats and 15,000 standing, two backstage halls, we have a multi-storey car park. And yet the requirements of the European Council for Radio and Television are somewhat clear. The hall must be closed, with a capacity of about 10,000 spectators with an installed stage, have space for the huge stage and large-scale stage equipment, also have a so-called green room, a huge press center for hundreds of journalists, dozens of make-up and commentary booths. An important condition is that it be available up to 2 months before the final. The city must also meet a number of requirements such as good transport connections and a nearby international airport, good bed capacity.
In a special interview for "The World and Us", the director of the European Song Contest stated that the choice of a hall is among the main criteria, but not only. Martin Green, director of "Eurovision": "The key is to have space for the performance itself - usually a large hall, where there is room for many people and the entire performance. But above all, it is the desire to host the event and the entire festival - as long as the city has the desire and does it with love, we will be able to create everything else. But it is still very early.
We are just starting talks with BNT in the coming weeks." According to him, 14,000 people were busy with the organization in Vienna. There, the expectations were for 200,000 Eurovision fans. Last year, Sofia welcomed a record 1.4 million tourists, which is an increase of 9% compared to the previous year. For the first time, the capital crossed the threshold of 3 million overnight stays. And Vienna welcomed almost 9 million tourists and 20 million overnight stays. Every euro invested in the organization of the contest returns double.