Sofia's Christmas Tree Shines with Over 20,000 Lights

Sofia's Christmas tree shone tonight with over 20,000 lights. Precisely at 7:00 PM, the lights illuminated "St. Alexander Nevsky" Square.

The Christmas tree is decorated in white and red with more than 1300 ornaments – Christmas flowers and figurines. 

No matter how many lights we turn on in this city, it will never carry as much light as we do in our hearts, said the Mayor of Sofia, Vasil Terziev, from the stage in front of the cathedral "St. Alexander Nevsky". The mayor wished for much light, warmth, and for us to be better people.

The festive program began at 6:00 PM and included the choir of the Sofia Theological Seminary "St. John of Rila" with conductor Nikolay Georgiev, Poli Genova, Orlin Pavlov, the children's vocal group "Smehorancheta" led by Galina Kodzhamanova, and a Combo ensemble from the National Music Academy "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov" led by Mihail Yosifov and soloists Monika Velcheva and Daria Boeva.

The presenter of the festive program is actress Ventsislava Asenova. A mailbox for letters to Santa Claus is located next to the Christmas tree.

The lights on the Christmas tree traditionally in Sofia are lit on December 1st as a sign of the beginning of the festive season. However, this year, because of the protest against the state budget draft for 2026, which took place last night, the Mayor of Sofia, Vasil Terziev, postponed the festive program by one day. "We made a different choice. There is no way we can celebrate while our fellow citizens are fighting against the political darkness that is again trying to extinguish every light of change," the mayor said in a post on social media yesterday.

From December 1st, "St. Alexander Nevsky" Square is entirely pedestrian.