Salt Winds
On July 31 and August 1, Burgas will once again host the Summer Festival of Sung Poetry "Salty Winds" - the established festival of bards and poets with guitar. For the eighteenth consecutive year, the forum will bring together performers from Bulgaria and abroad on the open-air stage "Ohlyuva" in the Sea Garden. This year, the festival will feature 25 individual performers, four duets and one group formation. The international participation is represented by guests from Italy, Ukraine and Russia. "Salty Winds" combines a representative and competitive program, with this year's emphasis on young authors and performers, who will present their songs alongside established Bulgarian bards. On both festival days, the audience will enjoy the "Song of the Bard" concerts, which will feature premiere original songs, as well as the traditional "Dog Watch" concert, featuring satirical and humorous songs, parodies, and sketches. Fans of the genre will also be able to hear the concert "Bards Around the World", dedicated to the work of world-famous authors such as Bob Seger, Georges Moustaki and Bulat Okudzhava, as well as songs by iconic Bulgarian bards, including Boyko Georgiev, Plamen Stavrev and Assen Maslarski. The culmination of the festival will be the "Against the Wind" competition for a new original song with an active civic stance. A record 11 new original songs will compete in this year's edition. The jury is chaired by Lyudmil Dimitrov – winner of the 2025 Against the Wind Award. Members are Krasimir Yordanov, Yavor Georgiev, Atanas Stoyanov and Anton Dimitrov. The winner will receive the special prize – a small sculpture made by the sculptor and bard Neven Kiderov. The festival is organized by the Salt Winds Association with the financial support of the Municipality of Burgas. Program July 31 (Friday), 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM. Open-air stage "Snail", Primorsky Park "The Bard's Song" – Part I "Dog Watch" "Bards of the World" August 1 (Saturday), 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM. Open-air stage "Snail", Primorsky Park "The Bard's Song" – Part II "Against the Wind" Competition for a New Author's Song with a Civic Position Awards ceremony and official closing of the festival.
