The 30th edition of the "Haskovo Jazz" festival begins today and will run until September 26, organizers announced. The program features six concert evenings across three venues in the city, with performers hailing from Bulgaria, Turkey, Hungary, and Austria.

The forum is organized by the Haskovo Municipality and the Haskovo Jazz Club, inspired by Dimitar Rusev. This year, the club celebrates its 40th anniversary.

The first concert starts at 19:00 at the "Ralitsa" club, where Turkish performer Melih Güzel will present the "Sounds of Istanbul" project.

On September 22, at the "Kirkovo School" museum house, the 30th anniversary of the festival and the 40th anniversary of the jazz club will be celebrated together. Performers on stage will include Maria Arnaudova, Melih Güzel, Can Tutug, Dimitar Rusev, Plamen Solakov, and Ivan Tonev, with special attention given to the 40th anniversary of the acoustic jazz trio from Dimitrovgrad.

The following evening, September 23, the group "Nov Platak" will perform on the same stage at "Kirkovo School." On September 24, the events move to the Youth Center, where the audience will hear the OM Jazz Trio featuring Hungarian double bassist Danyi Tamas, as well as the Yassenov Quartet with a program titled "35 Years of Timeless Music."

On September 25, the Austrian group Slowklang and the Sofia Jazz Collective will perform at the Youth Center. The closing concert on September 26 is scheduled to take place in front of the Youth Center building, featuring the Sunny & Sunshine Trio and the Lekov and Karageorgiev Quartet.

On September 25 and 26, starting at 23:00, jam sessions featuring the trio consisting of Ivanov, Gichev, and Simeonov will be held at the Youth Center.

Alongside the concerts at the Youth Center, an exhibition of "Haskovo Jazz" posters covering the period from 1997 to 2026 will be on display. Artist Luiza Kitar will also present 30 of her paintings inspired by jazz compositions. The canvases will be available for purchase, with 30 percent of the proceeds from each sale being donated to promote the festival.

The anniversary edition symbolically began back in June, when Haskovo became the first city on the route of the fifth edition of the Jazz FM Traveling Festival "Jazz Across the Country." Dimitar Rusev was a special guest of the tour, and the open stage featured Nedyalko Nedyalkov, Tedi Katsarova, and the young performer Dariya Boeva.

On April 30 of this year, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency announced the establishment of a national jazz press club.