Many festivals in Bulgaria follow the old, Julian calendar, in which Easter usually falls a week or two after the Western Easter.
January/February New Year’s Day, known as St Vassal’s (St Basil’s) Day, is celebrated in the Pernik and Dupnitsa regions with Kukeri festivals. Some parts of the country still celebrate Christmas Day according to the old calendar, on 6 January.
March Kukeri festival at Shiroka Luka, first Sunday in March.
April Orthodox Easter is best celebrated at the Alexander Nevski Cathedral in Sofia or at Rila Monastery.
May Varna International Pop Festival takes place during the last week of May; the International Biennale of Humour and Satire is held in Gabrovo in odd-numbered years. The Koprovshtitsa Folklore Festival straddles May and June.
June The Festival of the Roses takes place in Kazanlak during the first weekend of June; Varna International Music and Theatre Festival is held every year towards the end of the month.
July Verdi Festival held in Plovdiv during the first week of July.
August Folk festivals in Bourgas and Varna; the Festival of the Sea in Balchik and Sozopol; the Dunov Festival in the Rila lakes; the Pirin Song Festival. The dates are not fixed. The Rozhen Sings festival takes place during the last week of August; the Bagpipe Festival at Mugla is held on the last Sunday of August. Assumption Day (15 August) is celebrated with ritual processions at any church that has a temporal connection with the Virgin Mary.
September The Krustova Gora Festival of the Cross takes place on 14 September, celebrated in Bulgaria as Day of the Cross; the Apollonia Arts Festival in Sozopol, with performances of opera, classical music and theatre, is held on the causeway.
October St John of Rila day at Rila Monastery; wine harvest festival in Melnik (both on 18 October).
December Kukeri festivals on Christmas Day in Blagoevgrad.