Sozopol's town amphitheatre will be renovated for more than 413,000 euros under the Interreg Bulgaria–Turkey 2021–2027 programme. This was announced at a press conference in the town's chitalishte (community cultural centre). After the work, the amphitheatre will have 854 seats, 7 of them for people with disabilities.

The old seats will be replaced and new ones added. Plans also include entrances and temporary modular fence panels. Multicolour LED lighting will replace the single-colour lights, and a permanent sound system will go on the stage. Backstage there will be two movable units with two dressing rooms and two toilets, one of them accessible to people with disabilities.

The amphitheatre hosts the Apollonia festival, with events all summer and at the end of the season. Deputy mayor Todor Damyanov called the venue a symbol of Sozopol. He said Apollonia is a festival of national and even global importance. "We will be able to expand the seating capacity, which is also an economic factor in attracting world-class stars," Damyanov said.

Betina Koleva of the municipal administration said the repair will benefit residents, visitors, artists and event organisers. Local and foreign performers will play to bigger crowds and in better conditions, she said.

The amphitheatre is part of the Expand Strandzha project, which has a total budget of more than 920,000 euros. It focuses on cultural heritage and sustainable tourism in the Bulgarian-Turkish border region. The partners are Sozopol municipality, the Calm City Vize Association, Kaynarca municipality in Turkey, the Nesebar 2000 municipal sailing club and St Prince Boris I primary school in Burgas.

Vize and Kaynarca will invest in tourist sites and cycling routes. Vize will study the options for agritourism in its villages and hold events to attract tourism investors and operators. Kaynarca mayor Neşe Çevikbaş said people in the municipality are waiting for the project with interest and that it will bring more variety to their lives, including women and older people. Belgin Uğurlu, deputy chair of the association in Vize, said the preparation took a long time and a lot of work from all the partners.

The yard of the Burgas school will get a 30 sq m corner for growing plants, with pots, raised beds, planters, concrete benches and benches with solar panels. The school will receive fertiliser and seeds. The pupils will use the plants they grow to make tourist products and show them at an exhibition in the yard at the end.

The children will take classes on alternative forms of tourism and, with an experienced guide, will explore five routes in Strandzha. They will film video on the hikes and present the routes through their own eyes. The result will be a pupils' guide to the mountain. Headteacher Aleksandar Ivanov said the pupils look forward to the activities, above all the trips. "Strandzha is vast. Strandzha is a treasure for all of us," he added.

Yana Markova of the Nesebar 2000 club said the club wants to show how sport and tourism can help each other.

The whole project must finish by early 2028.