Black Sea city of Burgas beats Sofia to host Eurovision 2027

Burgas will host the Eurovision Song Contest next year. The two semi-finals will take place on 11 and 13 May. The final of the 71st edition will be held on 15 May. This was announced today at a press conference at the Bulgarian National Television (BNT).

Burgas is the smallest host city of the contest since Millstreet in Ireland in 1993. Burgas is also a candidate for European Capital of Culture 2032.

Eurovision is coming to Bulgaria following this year’s victory by Darina Yotova, known as Dara, with the song “Bangaranga.”

Bulgaria claims historic Eurovision victory: Dara’s “Bangaranga” wins by landslide in Vienna

The event will take place at Arena Burgas. The facility has a seating capacity of 4,100 for sports events that can be expanded to 6,100, and up to around 15,000 for concerts or large shows including standing areas.

Dude, Burgas Arena is actually super huge if it's viewed from your TV screen. Third time in a row that Eurovision has been held in an arena with left-right grandstands. 🇧🇬 Bulgaria is cooking.#Eurovision #esc #esc2027 #bulgaria #UnitedbyMusic pic.twitter.com/QSQax6g44g
— kin 🍉 (@kinu_unik) August 13, 2026

Fans will also be able to buy tickets for six additional preliminary show programmes, which will run between Monday 10 May and Saturday 15 May 2027, BNT clarified.

During contest week, Burgas will also host a rich accompanying programme. More details are expected next week.

The national broadcaster stresses that its ambition is for the contest to be much more than an event held in a single city. The accompanying programme will include Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna – the other three cities that took part in the host-city selection process.

“It was intense, it was competitive, so congratulations Burgas! You have won a great deal of responsibility, and I hope the big winner will be the large international audience that will visit Burgas,” said Milena Milotinova, Director General of BNT.

“It is an exceptional honour for us to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2027. Thank you to BNT and the EBU for their trust! We are already one team that will turn the next edition of the contest into an unforgettable experience for both the participants and the hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide,” said Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov, who took part in the press conference alongside Milotinova.

According to him, as the centre of Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast, Burgas has the most modern hall in Bulgaria, unique hotels, transport links and undeniable infrastructural and natural advantages.

In early June it became known that Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas were continuing in the race to host the song contest. A month later only Sofia and Burgas remained as contenders. The host was chosen by a working committee that evaluated the proposals. Today there was no precise answer as to why Burgas was selected.

In recent weeks, while the announcement of whether Sofia or Burgas would win was awaited, unofficial talk in music and media circles suggested that those in power from “Progressive Bulgaria” preferred Burgas to win.

Five areas were evaluated: the proposed infrastructure, halls and technical requirements; the city’s commitment and its organisational and financial capacity; safety, security and sustainability; transport, mobility, accommodation options and operational logistics; as well as concepts for activating the city, branding, communication and the overall “Eurovision” experience.

“Burgas won with a strong overall proposal combining the venue and technical infrastructure potential required for Eurovision, accommodation capacity, transport and international connectivity, strong commitment from the Municipality and a clear vision for turning the entire city into part of the Eurovision experience,” BNT explained.

The experience of recent host cities shows the significant effect that hosting Eurovision can have far beyond the stage. In 2023 the contest brought Liverpool an economic impact of €66 million, in 2024 €40 million for Malmö, and in 2025 €58 million for Basel, with published data indicating a total economic effect for Switzerland of €272 million.

Vienna is already reporting significant results from the 2026 contest – 88,000 additional visitors, 160,000 hotel rooms sold and an approximate economic impact of €57 million.

Yesterday the organisers of Eurovision announced that they had changed the rules for 2027, so that the winner “will not automatically be able to host” if their country is participating “in an armed conflict” or is in a “sensitive geopolitical situation.”

Julaya: Bulgaria’s grassroots rock fiesta on the Black Sea coast

Change of rules: Ukraine and Israel ineligible to host

🎶🇪🇺 L'#Eurovision, concours européen de la #chanson, change ses règles : un pays en guerre ne pourra plus accueillir la compétition.
Aucun pays n'est explicitement visé, mais les dernières éditions avaient été marquées par des polémiques autour de la participation d'#Israël 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/RYBDUFML0M
— FRANCE 24 Français (@France24_fr) August 13, 2026

In the meantime, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the Eurovision Song Contest, has updated its rules so that a winning country will automatically be ineligible to host the following year’s event if it is involved in an armed conflict, a “sensitive geopolitical situation,” or any other circumstance that materially affects the security, safety or stability of its state or immediate region. The EBU may commission an independent security assessment and, if necessary, appoint an alternative broadcaster to stage the contest in its own right. The change, approved after feedback from participating broadcasters following the 2026 contest in Vienna, formalises earlier exceptions such as Ukraine’s inability to host in 2023 and takes effect for future editions after Bulgaria’s 2027 hosting.

Caption: A rock band performs next to Burgas beach, on 1 July 2025. 1 July, called “Julaya”, is a grassroot rock fiesta dating back to the years of communism. [Georgi Gotev]