Market Report: Bulgaria
Bulgaria may be a relatively small market, with a live music market worth around €100m annually, but with a number of new arenas and festivals opening over the last few years, younger fans, and fans from across the region, are being increasingly enticed to attend events by a more diverse, contemporary range of artists.
EVENTIM Bulgaria is also due to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025, with a range of special initiatives related to this milestone starting in the second half of 2024. “These will include special events, promotions, and enhancements to our services, aiming to provide even more value and memorable experiences for our clients and audiences,” says the company’s Miroslav Emanoilov.
EVENTIM Bulgaria is also due to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025, with a range of special initiatives related to this milestone starting in the second half of 2024.
Primary ticketing
In terms of turnover, EVENTIM remains the leading player in ticketing, but ePayGO is also significant, on account of being part of the biggest payment processor and having access to a well-developed point-of-sale network.
Ticketstation.bg – the exclusive ticketing platform of Fest Team Bulgaria, the biggest live music promoter in Bulgaria – continues to grow in size and importance; recently it handled sold-out shows for Ed Sheeran, Andrea Bocelli, and Lenny Kravitz.
Outside the big three, bilet.bg is a fast-growing company offering a full-scope service (marketing, sales, automated invoicing, and add-on services), while other smaller players include grabo.bg and ticketportal.bg.
Secondary ticketing
Fest Team Bulgaria announced TicketSwap as the only valid reseller for its events in 2022, and this remains the only legitimate secondary market for fans and promoters alike.
“When the audience has no other option, many festival- and concertgoers offer and resell their tickets via social media posts, groups, or platforms such as olx.bg or bazar.bg.”
“When the audience has no other option, many festival- and concertgoers offer and resell their tickets via social media posts, groups, or platforms such as olx.bg or bazar.bg,” says Fest Team CEO Stefan Elenkov. “Viagogo remains the main scalping platform but mainly addresses big international acts.”
Distribution of sales
The trend towards digital and e-tickets is accelerating post-pandemic.
Cultural analysis
Optimism abounds, particularly with regards to the younger demographic of event-going fans and the types of artists now adding a Bulgarian leg to their itinerary. “We see significant opportunities for growth in several areas – we aim to further expand in the sports segment, particularly football, and increase our ticketing services for premium stadium acts,” says Emanoilov.
Country Profile: Bulgaria
The nation’s largest promoter, Fest Team, has capitalised on the popularity of pop, pop-folk, metal, and rock among Bulgarian audiences.
In the past year, the company has worked with Ed Sheeran and Andrea Bocelli, as well as headlining the Hills of Rock festival with Bring Me The Horizon and Korn, drawing in “record-breaking crowds of over 60,000 people,” according to founder and CEO Stefan Elenkov.
The company takes pride in its collaborations and occasional backing from local municipalities, recognising the cultural and tourism benefits of hosting major events in Bulgaria.
“They took a big – though calculated – risk to offer Phantom of the Opera without knowing the profit margin. We can estimate the endeavour paid off”
In June 2024, the company acquired longstanding Istanbul-based promoter Charmenko, further solidifying its position and enhancing booking capabilities, Elenkov says.
For BG Sound Stage, connecting local audiences to a broad range of genres has been key to success, says managing director Dima Mollova. The company’s notable booking was the musical The Phantom of the Opera at Sofia’s National Palace of Culture.
“They took a big – though calculated – risk to offer Phantom of the Opera without knowing the profit margin. We can estimate the endeavour paid off,” says Boyan Pinter, A&R label manager and founder and director of the annual SPIKE Bulgarian Music Showcase. It offers opportunities for artists to network with the key stakeholders in the music industry from Bulgaria and abroad.
Limited purchasing power in one of Europe’s poorest countries is a challenge, making it “increasingly difficult” to sell out concerts by non-mainstream artists.
Blue Hills, a company Pinter is involved with, works closely with Plovdiv’s Ancient Theatre. Their successful partnerships include working with Bulgarian conductor maestro Yordan Kamdzhalov and local pop-folk singer Sofi Marinova, putting on seven concerts, four of which were sold out.
Limited purchasing power in one of Europe’s poorest countries is a challenge, making it “increasingly difficult” to sell out concerts by non-mainstream artists, according to Pinter.
Other key promoters in Bulgaria include BLM, Class Stage, BGTSC, Mixtape5, Stroeja, and Live & Loud.
Arena Market: Bulgaria
Bulgaria became one of the newest members of the EU’s free-roam Schengen Region in March, opening doors and borders for international fans and tours alike.
The newest Bulgarian venue, Arena Burgas, opened in May 2023, nearly a decade after constructors broke ground in 2014. Convertible from 4,100-15,000-capacity, the multipurpose arena is home to a professional basketball team. Since opening, the venue has hosted the Glory 89 kickboxing event and the 2024 Bulgarian Basketball Cup.
However, in November 2023, national media site Iskra reported that there were flaws in the construction and organisation of the venue, and it is unclear whether it is a functioning venue.
“It’s very difficult to break a new act in our territory that plays mainstream music”
In the capital, Arena Sofia is the leading venue for international artists, hosting Louis Tomlinson, Hollywood Vampires, and Pantera over the past year. The multipurpose venue is set to host an influx of rock and metal acts over the next 12 months, including Megadeth, Five Finger Death Punch, and Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson. Able to host up to 17,000 concertgoers, the space is also used for festivals, like the multiday Sofia Live and day-long Sofia Metal Fest.
Heritage rock is a mainstay of the Bulgarian live music scene, and it’s “very difficult to break a new act in our territory that plays mainstream music,” says Boyan Pinter, founder and director of SPIKE Bulgarian Music Showcase.
“Local audiences are less inclined to spend their ticket money to discover new acts and would rather buy a ticket for a known quantity.”
“Hand in hand with the economic realities of the market, local audiences are less inclined to spend their ticket money to discover new acts and would rather buy a ticket for a known quantity.”
Subsequently, arena-level shows featuring international tours are declining, Pinter says, as local acts and sports are becoming increasingly favoured at venues like Arena Sofia.
In the port city of Varna, three halls are available in the Palace of Culture of Sports, with the largest boasting a capacity of 6,000. In Plovdiv, the Kolodruma velodrome (7,500) doubles as a concert venue, and additional sports-focused facilities are dotted around the country.