Rivers of Sofia – festival
Rivers of Sofia – festival
Rivers of Sofia – isolated, concreted and deserted. We pass by and frankly we feel sad. And probably every second person, standing over the canal on Evlogi and Hristo Georgiev and Slivnitsa boulevards, has asked himself – why Sofia does not have clean, regulated and normal central rivers.
And maybe Sofia’s “canals” need just a little to turn into parks and rivers? Rivers of Sofia by the Collective Foundation begins aims to turn them into an intersection of culture, sport and recreation through small and feasible interventions.
So far Sofia has a number of unrealised projects for the rivers, but instead of sitting and waiting for one of them to become a reality, we can start with small steps to change attitudes, take care of them and use the rivers as an urban space to meet people and nature.
On 26 and 27 September is the first step in this direction – Festival: Sofia’s Rivers, which aims to show how our rivers can live, to start the smooth change – of our attitude towards the “canal”.
Some of the most active and responsible organisations, businesses and individuals are already behind the Rivers of Sofia initiative. Partners and participants in the festival’s program so far are the city’s communication agency Imp-Act, Credo Bonum Foundation, A to JazZ Foundation, Begach Sports Club, Be Duende, kvARTal, Botanic Lab, Bitaka, #soSofia, Subcultura and others.
The first event is being realized in 2020 with the support of VIVACOM, Absolut, Peri Bulgaria, Zagorka, Ariana, The Apple Thief, Space for Art and Shared Work KO-OP, Bulgarian American Credit Bank, Fashion Days, Taste Farm, Trastena Wines and logistics provided by Spark. The organizers have the institutional support of Sofia Municipality – Architecture and Urban Planning Department, Security Department, Environment Department, OP Sofproekt.
During the festival, a more in-depth discussion about the future of Sofia’s rivers started and the participants were asked – “what would you use them for?”. In November 2020, a workshop was implemented: the Rivers of Sofia – with data presentations and analyses. The event brought together experts who know, can and want to seek lasting solutions to improve the condition of Sofia’s rivers and turn them into parks.
