17th Young Wine Festival Opens in Plovdiv

Yoanna Vodenova, Ani Mihaylova

Young Wine Festival 2025, Plovdiv, Southcentral Bulgaria, November 21, 2025 (BTA Photo/Ani Mihaylova)

Plovdiv, Southcentral Bulgaria,

21.11.2025 17:53

(BTA)

The 17th edition of the Young Wine Festival was officially opened in Plovdiv on Friday.

This year’s festival runs on November 21-23. Forty-six wineries and 16 food producers are showcasing their products across 17 Revival-period houses in the old town of Plovdiv, including nine new participants. At museums, galleries, cultural centres, hotels and restaurants, winemakers are presenting the 2025 vintage, while artisan producers offer cheeses, meat delicacies, sweets and other specialties.

"The festival has gained experience and authority as one of Bulgaria’s key wine-tourism events. It attracts Bulgarian and foreign visitors in a season that is not traditionally touristic. More than half a million wine lovers have already discovered Plovdiv’s advantages as a year-round destination not only for culture and history, but also for wine and gourmet tourism," said Lyubozar Fratev, Chair of the Plovdiv Tourism Council and main event organizer. He added that the city has rightly earned the recognitions "European Wine Destination 2022" and "European Wine Capital 2025", in addition to its "European Capital of Culture 2019" title.

Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Yanislav Yanchev, Plovdiv Mayor Kostadin Dimitrov, Regional Governor Prof. Hristina Yancheva, Municipal Council Chair Atanas Uzunov, the President’s Adviser on Agriculture Yavor Gechev and Prof. Plamen Mollov, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of Food Technologies, attended the opening.

Young Wine Festival 2025 is organized by the Plovdiv Tourism Council and Plovdiv Municipality, in cooperation with the Ancient Plovdiv Municipal Institute and the University of Food Technologies. It is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and is funded through Plovdiv Municipality’s 2025 Annual Tourism Development Programme.

/KK/