Burgas to host Eurovision Song Contest in 2027
Baku, August 13, AZERTAC
The coastal city of Burgas will host the Eurovision Song Contest next year, it was announced at a joint press conference of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) here on Thursday, according to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). The two semifinals will take place on May 11 and 13. The final will be held on May 15.
Four Bulgarian cities expressed an interest in hosting Eurovision 2027 and submitted bids: Burgas, Varna, Plovdiv and Sofia. The selection process began in June, after BNT held an information meeting with representatives of the four municipalities that had expressed interest in hosting the contest.
A committee comprising representatives of BNT and the European Broadcasting Union, as well as experts, reviewed the bids and assessed the technical specifications of the proposed venues, their compliance with EBU requirements and the contest’s production standards.
During the evaluation process, Varna and Plovdiv were eliminated, leaving Burgas and Sofia in the running, according to the international evaluation committee.
At Thursday's press conference, BNT Director General Milena Milotinova said that, in addition to the two semifinals and the final in May 2027, there will be six pre-contest shows. Information about them will be announced in stages as details are finalized.
Speaking to BTA, Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov said Arena Burgas, the host venue, would undergo a complete transformation. Improvements will be made to the venue's acoustics and visitor comfort, while infrastructure upgrades will also be carried out across the city.
"I looked at the cities that have hosted Eurovision so far. In recent years, it turns out that quite a few of them have not been capitals. We have Basel, Malmo, Liverpool, Rotterdam and Turin. So it is not unprecedented for the assessment committee to choose a city that is not a capital," Milotinova said.
"We will do our best to make sure we perform at a high level and that Burgas goes down as a successful host in the long history of this wonderful and biggest live music event in the world," Nikolov said.
"The international evaluation committee conducted a comprehensive assessment of both Sofia and Burgas. We cannot say that Burgas prevailed on any single criterion, as the assessment covered all parameters. Based on all the requirements, Burgas was the clear choice," Milotinova said.
She said BNT aims to involve all the bidding cities in the additional events, in recognition of the quality of their proposals, as well as their enthusiasm, willingness and commitment to the contest.
"Our ambition is to showcase Bulgaria as a whole, everything it has to offer, all its talent and all its beauty, and to make Eurovision a national event as well as a major international one, as befits a global event of this scale," she added.
"Burgas is popular as a centre of the southern Black Sea coast, with its good infrastructure and connectivity. Perhaps Burgas and the area around Burgas Bay receive every summer several times more tourists than the number of Eurovision guests we expect, and I am convinced that this long-standing experience in the tourism sector will help us meet this challenge extremely successfully," Nikolov said.
"One of the locations is right by the sea, in the Sea Garden, close to the shoreline. That is where the events will begin, in the very centre of the city. In general, we will present Bulgaria's Black Sea coast and the area around Burgas in the most attractive and impressive way possible," the mayor said.
Nikolov said the Turquoise Carpet would be laid in the Sea Garden, right on the seafront. The Eurovision Village will be located in the city centre. Additional locations have also been planned, depending on the weather during the contest, he added.
"We will ensure connectivity through Burgas Airport. The beginning of May also marks the start of the summer tourist season. We have already agreed on full support and cooperation with most hotels. The national carrier will provide additional flights from Sofia. Burgas Airport itself will handle arrivals. As additional options, we have also identified Istanbul Airport and are already in preliminary talks, as geographically it is closer than Sofia Airport. Of course, there is also Varna Airport, because the operator of Burgas Airport is the same as that of Varna Airport," Nikolov said.
Burgas Airport is expected to handle at least 21 flights per hour, he said. "These are about 18,000 passengers, and I am convinced that the busiest days at Burgas Airport will help us meet this challenge as well," Nikolov added.
Other news in this section
