The "Age of Aquarius" festival of Bulgarian physical and visual theatre opens in Burgas today and runs until 25 October, its founder and organiser Petar Todorov told Bulgarian National Radio. All events are free.

This is the festival's 16th year. Over five days, audiences will see plays, performances and installations that blend theatre, dance and puppetry in a single show. The programme also includes an art film from the US.

Artists and troupes from Bulgaria, Turkey, Sweden and Slovenia are taking part. They include Basil Twist from New York, Tempo Theatre from Ankara, Staffan Björklund Theatre from Höganäs in Sweden and Miniteater from Ljubljana.

The Bulgarian troupes on stage will be the Vratsa Drama and Puppet Theatre and the state puppet theatres in Burgas and Plovdiv. Katerina Georgieva from Plovdiv, the Heteropody company from Sofia, the Orenda art centre and the Den Gri Foundation will also perform, the last two together with the Toplocentrala centre for contemporary art in Sofia. So will Petya Stoykova with the Dune dance company from Burgas.

Shows will be held at the NHK Culture House, the State Puppet Theatre, the Sea Casino Cultural Centre, the Petko Zadgorski Art Gallery in Burgas and Dune Studio at 8 Uspenska Street.

The festival has been running for more than 20 years. Todorov says that at the start, Bulgarian audiences did not know these genres at all, and the event was held in smaller venues with almost no spectators. He calls the genres "hybrid", because one stage work weaves together different kinds of theatre.

Todorov said it was hard back then to explain to people what they would see, because audiences usually want to know in advance and have an idea of what to expect. "People need to see a more unusual art, a more modern art. An art that is not so commercial, but rather provoking, challenging!" he said.

The festival has grown stronger year after year, which makes Todorov "endlessly happy". This year events are in almost all the city's theatre venues, and he says the festival and Burgas have now merged. "I think this is now paying off for us, and that our city of Burgas has come to love this festival!" he added. He says the team loves the city very much.

On 20 October 2026 we reported that the second "KALATA" festival of laughter will be held in Burgas from 12 to 15 November, also with free entry. The stand-up show is at the NHK Culture House, and the plays are at the Drama Theatre and the Meden Rudnik multimedia centre.

The festival is organised by the independent foundation Theatre in a Suitcase and the For the Rhodopes Foundation, with Burgas council as co-organiser. The money comes from the Ministry of Culture, under the National Cultural Calendar, and from the council.