The harbour becomes an open-air studio
In Burgas, young artists are turning the harbour into a place to create. The Deep Blue Sea festival brings together painting, film and literature, with Eurovision 2027 on the horizon.
Harbours are places where ships are loaded, cargo is unloaded and journeys begin. In Burgas this week, something else is taking shape: ideas, paintings, stories and music. At The Deep Blue Sea, a festival for young artists, people come together not simply to display finished work but to make something new alongside one another.
The seventh edition was scheduled to open on Monday evening at Magazia 1, right on the waterfront. Students from the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov music school were due to provide the opening performances. Today, Tuesday morning, the outdoor art session begins at 10 am. Working en plein air, participants can find inspiration in the harbour, the sea and everyday life along the quay.
The festival grew out of a conversation between three people who wanted to bring the city's young creative communities together. They were cultural official Diana Savateva, Sea Casino cultural centre director Lyudmila Kutieva and painter Svetozar Benchev. Their aim was to give young people working in different art forms a chance to meet, share ideas and learn from one another. Benchev now heads the Burgas branch of Bulgaria's National Academy of Art, one of the festival organisers.
The venue has a story of its own. Magazia 1 was once a port warehouse; it was renovated in 2016 and has housed teaching rooms and studios for the National Academy of Art since 2018. The harbour is still very much at work outside, while drawing, painting and discussion take place inside and around the building. Industry and artistic life meet here within a few steps.
Boats to St Anastasia Island also leave from the quay by Magazia 1. On Wednesday and Thursday, the festival takes participants out into the Black Sea. There will be more open-air painting on the island, joined on Thursday by a workshop for young writers. Even the crossing offers a change of perspective: instead of looking out from the harbour, they will be looking back from the water.
Others will turn their attention to moving images. On Wednesday, filmmaker Kiril Todorov will lead a masterclass in making short videos at the Sea Casino cultural centre. He also has experience of major international productions, having worked in visual effects on films including Black Adam and Terminator: Dark Fate. The videos made during the workshop are due to be screened on Thursday evening.
Friday brings further art and writing workshops, as well as a concert by students and teachers from the music school. A literary matinée will close the festival on Saturday. Across six days, drawing, music, film and writing share the same programme, each offering a different way to tell a story.
This year's theme is 'The Eurovision Emotion in Burgas'. There is a remarkable reason for it: in May, Bulgarian singer DARA won the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna with Bangaranga, giving her country its first victory. Burgas will now host the contest in May 2027, with the grand final scheduled for 15 May at Arena Burgas. A major international stage is coming to this Black Sea city.
Burgas is also bidding to become European Capital of Culture in 2032. While preparations for next year's huge music event move forward, the young people at this festival are already making art of their own. They do not need an audience of millions or a spectacular stage to begin. Sometimes a sheet of paper, a few colours and a place by the sea are enough.