FEST Team founder and CEO Stefan Elenkov has told IQ that the Bulgarian market is open for international stadium shows.

Founded in 2012, the Sofia-based full-service promoter organises festivals such as the Sofia Solid series, Hills of Rock Festival, and Spice Music Festival, and has worked with artists including Arctic Monkeys, Iron Maiden, Tom Jones, Lenny Kravitz, Franz Ferdinand, Editors and Pantera.

This year, FEST Team realised a long-standing ambition of expanding into stadium shows with international artists, promoting concerts with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Andrea Bocelli at the National Stadium in Sofia.

In the past decade or so, Bulgaria has hosted just a handful of stadium concerts by international acts such as Imagine Dragons (2023), Roger Waters and Bon Jovi (2013) and Guns N’ Roses (2012) but FEST Team has been determined to make the country a viable tour stop for A-list artists.

“Bulgaria is an undervalued market,” Elenkov tells IQ. “Many people think that in Bulgaria you cannot sell tickets at decent prices because the economics is bad but we’ve proved otherwise. People have decent incomes and they can afford to pay good money for quality entertainment.”

There was no better proof of concept than Sheeran’s first-ever performance in Bulgaria in August, which sold 60,000 tickets and drew an audience comprising 98% Bulgarians. FEST Team also hailed “great success” with Andrea Bocceli’s show, which took place two weeks later at the same stadium.

“People have decent incomes and they can afford to pay good money for quality entertainment”

“I believe that, now, more and more artists will see that the Bulgarian market is ready for big artists,” Elenkov tells IQ.

Until now, Sofia’s National Stadium has been the only viable venue for international stadium shows but it has lacked the infrastructure needed to seamlessly host big tours, according to the FEST Team CEO.

“You could not drive a big truck inside of the stadium, which is a big logistic problem that usually delays tours,” explains Elenkov. “It’s why we missed out on hosting Coldplay because they didn’t have time to load in and out, outside the stadium.”

But in a massive win for FEST Team, the stadium and its associated stakeholders have agreed to construct a new tunnel to allow trucks to enter and leave the premises.

“We are at the stage where the architects are done with all the calculations and we’ve submitted all the documentation to the municipality and the Ministry of Sport for approval,” he says. “The actual reconstruction work will probably start at the beginning of February and it’s estimated to be finished by the beginning of the summer season which would be great.”

With a clear run at summer 2025, FEST Team has already confirmed its first stadium show for next year and is in the process of confirming another two.

“This has been our biggest year ever as a company and next year will be even bigger”

Elsewhere, construction has also started on a new 16,000-capacity stadium in Sofia, which is expected to be complete by spring 2026.

Though the venue will primarily be used by Sofia’s professional football team, it could open up further opportunities for stadium tours, says Elenkov.

As the stadium-level market develops, FEST Team is also expanding to accommodate healthy demand for mid-tier acts.

The company recently took over and refurbished the 7,000-capacity open-air Sofia Velodrome, where acts including The Smile, Bruce Dickinson, Five Finger Death Punch, Megadeath and Corey Taylor performed this summer.

Meanwhile, the company’s festival portfolio has expanded with the acquisition of urban city festival Sofia Live, and the launch of a new EDM festival called Aura.

And with an offer placed to purchase Eastern European promoter, talent buyer and artist agency Charmenko, it’s perhaps no surprise that 2024 has been a historic year for FEST Team.

“This has been our biggest year ever as a company and next year will be even bigger,” says Elenkov.

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P!nk and Burna Boy have both announced more stadium shows in the UK/Europe after milestone concerts in the country this summer.

Earlier this year, Burna Boy became the first-ever African artist to headline a UK stadium with his performance at London Stadium (cap. 60,000) on Saturday 3 June.

The Afro-fusion star will return to the very same stadium on Saturday 29th June 2024 for a special performance alongside his band, The Outsiders, as part of the I Told Them… Tour.

Spaceship Entertainment, Whytelion and Coko Bar will promote the Grammy Award-winner’s return show, with tickets on sale this Friday (24 November).

Also in June 2024, P!nk will return to the UK with her blockbuster Summer Carnival Tour, which this year spanned 64 dates and grossed US$350 million.

Following her two sell-out headline shows at BST, P!NK will return to London with two nights at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

The 16-stop 2024 run includes stadium shows in London, Dublin, Liverpool, Cardiff, Glasgow, Bern, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brussels, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Mönchengladbach and Stockholm.

Following her two sell-out headline shows at BST during the summer, P!NK will return to London with two nights at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (62,850).

The Script, GAYLE, and DJ and producer KidCutUp are due to support the star on the Summer Carnival Tour 2024.

The Summer Carnival Tour recently completed a North American leg where P!nk performed to 1.75 million fans with sold-out record-breaking shows across the country.

Its next stop is Australia and New Zealand, with shows in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Auckland and more.

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The Global Promoters Report (GPR) 2023, the latest indispensable guide to the industry’s leading promoters and touring territories, is out now.

The second edition of the report, available to subscribers of IQ, is significantly expanded and features analysis of 55 markets across six continents.

The GPR 2023 includes key summaries of the major players working with international artists, unique interviews and insight into each of the world’s top live music markets and dedicated editorial on key trends and developments across the global live music business.

“If 2022 was the year the show got back on the road, 2023 saw it break into a record-breaking speed,” says GPR editor James Drury.

“Promoters worldwide are reporting more shows than ever, and while some of the challenges of last year are being overcome, it’s not all smooth sailing, as we discover.”

This year’s GPR also features a special report on how the uptick in stadium shows is affecting the rest of the business.

“While stadium shows have been a feature of live touring since the Beatles played Shea Stadium in 1965, it feels like there’s never been so many of these enormous productions on the road as there is this year,” continues Drury.

“Reports of eye-watering grosses and astonishing attendances are great news for the artists and their teams, but what do they mean for the rest of the business (which makes up the vast majority of all shows)?”

This year’s GPR is available in print, digitally, and on this dedicated year-round mini site. To purchase a print copy of the report, get in touch with [email protected].

A preview version of the Global Promoters Report 2023 is below.

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