Bulgarian Red Cross in Burgas is holding a forum, "Volunteering Rocks", to mark Volunteer Day. It runs on Friday, December 4, and Saturday, December 5, 2026, under the motto "Everywhere, for the people".

Organisers have invited volunteers, organisations, NGOs, institutions, youth groups, businesses and anyone who believes volunteering improves Burgas region. People who already help will meet others who want to get involved. Organisers say volunteering grows best where people meet and act together. The aim is to get to know each other, swap experience and good practice, and look for partners and ideas.

Volunteers can find new causes and ways to help. Organisations and institutions will look for people, partners and ideas for working with volunteers.

On Friday, registration opens at 10:00 and the opening is at 10:30. The first panel, "What is happening with volunteering in our region?", starts at 11:00. From 11:40, under the title "What is next?", speakers will discuss volunteering opportunities around Eurovision 2027 and European Capital of Culture 2032, as well as the law on volunteering.

At 12:00, outstanding volunteers will receive awards. They include entrants in the "Volunteering in Action" competition and other volunteers from the region who stood out. Refreshments are served from 12:30 to 13:00. The second panel follows, on corporate social responsibility and volunteering, with good practice from Burgas. It runs until 15:00. The day ends at 16:00 with time to look around the exhibitions and the fair, and informal meetings.

Saturday is International Volunteer Day. Registration opens at 10:30, and at 11:00 a talk "over coffee" begins on the faces of volunteering in the Burgas region. Refreshments and the fair follow. From 13:00 to 14:30 two panels run side by side. One presents the volunteering platform ihelp.bg. In the other, guests play the educational board game Stayin' Alive with young people from NGOs, as part of the Bulgarian Red Cross peer-to-peer programme.

After a coffee break, two workshops run from 15:00 to 16:30. One is practical, on volunteering during disasters and accidents. The other, named after the forum, is for youth organisations and initiatives.

Both days will feature an exhibition of entries from the amateur photography competition "Volunteering in Action", a volunteer fair, an information table on voluntary, unpaid blood donation, and the charity campaign "Give Christmas". At the fair, organisations will explain how anyone can get involved.

The forum closes on Saturday between 16:30 and 17:00, when participants will sum up ideas for future partnerships and joint initiatives.