It is our pride and joy that in 2024 the Apollonia Festival of Arts will be held for the fortieth time in Sozopol. Back in 1984, when the first festival took place, none of us, the organizers, could have imagined that Apollonia will become the best forum of Bulgarian culture, where all arts are presented – theater, music, dance, literature, fine arts, cinema and architecture.

We have been asked many times why exactly Sozopols was chosen to be the venue. At that time, Sozopol was the most romantic, most artistic and hospitable city on the Southern Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. And it was the favorite summer meeting point of The Bohema, where people from the world of art communicated, shared ideas and dreamed together…

The idea of the festival, a bold and unusual event at that time was launched by the prominant Bulgarian musician prof. Dimo Dimov and the circle of his colleagues and supporters – artists, musicians, poets and writers. In 1991 the Apollonia Foundation was established, which still organizes the Festival of Arts in Sozopol.

It is almost impossible to list all classical, jazz and pop concerts, theater performances, ballet and folklore performances, art exhibitions, book and magazine presentations, film screenings, master classes and thousands of participants in the festival’s program.

Today Sozopol is a different place, but in the days of the festival the city shines with the smiles of people who come from all over the world to experience the joy of the meeting with the great Bulgarian and foreign performers. And today, the true essence of Apollonia is freedom, innovation and the synthesis of arts.