The Bansko Jazz Festival [2025]– Line Up, Program and More

The Bansko Jazz Festival is a Jazz and Music festival held in the mountain town of Bansko Bulgaria, since 1988.  Bansko’s Jazz Festival is always held at the beginning of August, with headline acts from around the world as well as local bands, singers, and performers. The dates for the 2025 Bansko Jazz Festival are the 1st August 2025 to August 10th 2025.

You’ll get to hear Big Band music, Dixieland Jazz, Blues, and a whole lot more. 2025 sees a continued wider program for the Bansko Jazz festival – with events throughout the day, a Young Talents stage in the city park, fun, and games, and Jazz improv on Gotse Delchev all leading up to the main concerts, which started at 8 pm in the main square.

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2025 will see nearly 200 jazz artists performing. This year they’re coming from Bulgaria (of course), the USA, Japan, Canada, France, Italy, Sweden, Indonesia, Turkey, Israel, and Moldova. In 2025, as well as the main stage in the Nikola Vaptazarov Square, there is also a world stage in the park from 19:00, where you can see artists from Indonesia, Turkey, Italy, and more. You can see the schedule further down.

Where to Stay in Bansko for the 2025 Jazz Festival

The weather is glorious here in summer, so head for a hotel or apartment with an outdoor pool and ensure you have the best facilities to enjoy your time in Bansko.  Here are the best hotels in Bansko with an outdoor pool.

The Kempinski Grand Arena:  This is five-star luxury at Bulgarian prices and that means its fantastic value.  (go on check the rates, you’ll be pleasantly surprised!).  The five-star Kempinski has TWO outdoor pools (and one indoor pool too!).  The Veranda Bar and Lounge have amazing views of the mountains, there’s a Piano Bar, and you’ll also get access to a 24-hour gym, a thermal spa (also with beauty spa treatments too!) and there are both indoor and outdoor hot tubs too. It’s quite simply glorious.  Check rates and book your luxury 5 star getaway here.

The Vihren Royal Palace: The Vihren Royal Palace is in a great summer location, very close to the Gondola for getting up the mountain and within easy reach of the old town. All rooms and apartments here have access to the swimming pool, sauna, steam bath, and gym. This is a great option for self-catering – and one of the few places that has two-bedroom apartments. You should check availability early!

The Regnum Bansko Ski Hotel & Spa has a heated outdoor pool (it’s enormous)- plus water slides and a children’s pool too, plus there’s a free shuttle to Banya Village to the Banya Therma complex too!  There’s live Friday and Saturday night jazz here at the Regnum and there’s also a gym, children’s room, and gardens too.  Rooms here are suites, with kitchenettes and seating areas as well as seriously well-equipped rooms.   You’ll love it and can check rates here.

The name should give it away for my final recommendation for Bansko hotels with pools. The Hotel 7 Pools spa, has, yes, you’ve guessed it, 7 pools.  There are outdoor pools here and an indoor pool for kids with a waterslide.  There’s also a state of the art spa center and a fitness center too.  The hotel provides apartments, with a fully equipped kitchen, private seating area, bathroom, and bedroom.  Sound like your sort of place?  See what other people say here. There are also 3 types of saunas, a steam room, 2 hammams, a tepidarium, as well as a salt room, shock barrels, and a VIP SPA apartment.   And the rates are superb, check them out here.

Bansko Jazz Festival Dates 2025

The Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 starts on 1st August 2025 and runs until August 10th, 2025. Performances start at 20:30 and most performances run until around 23:00, or midnight. Here’s an example of what it’s like.

Here’s the schedule for 2025

• 10:00– Children in Jazz (Jazz Alley)
• 11:00 – Young Talents (town park)
• 13:00 – Family fun (town park)
• 15:00– Jazz cafe (community center)
• 16:00 – Meeting with Bulgarian authors (House of Arts)
• 17:00 – Music in town (different locations)
• 18:00 – A glass of wine with… (community center)
• 19:00 – World Scene (town park)
• 20:30 – Main Performance (town square)
• Midnight – Jam sessions (Ginger Bar & Dinner)

Bansko Jazz 2025 – Main Stage Schedule

In 2024, it was an 8-day celebration of jazz music with around 135 artists from 85 countries. In 2025, the event runs from Friday, 1st August until the end of Sunday, 10th August and involves nearly 200 artists! Read on for the full written schedule.

The Bansko Jazz Festival is just one of the free Bansko festivals organized and held over the spring, summer, and autumn – you can find out more about Bansko spring and summer activities here. 

This is Bansko, a ski town in summer and she’s beautiful.  There are a lot of Bansko summer activities apart from just the festivals.

History of the Bansko Jazz Festival

The Bansko Jazz Festival began in 1998 and has always run at the beginning of August (so you can book your visit for next year already!).  The brainchild of a local doctor, Dr. Emil Iliev, the festival has always been an international affair and it’s always been an eclectic mix of jazz styles.  Here you’ll find swing, blues, be-bop, Dixieland jazz, and boogie, there are violins, double bass, and pianos on stage. Dr. Iliev sadly passed away in 2020.

The Bansko Jazz Festival Stage – Map of Bansko Jazz Festival

The stage is in Bansko’s main town square, the Nikola Vaptazarov Square, an open, paved area, with grassy spots surrounded by laidback restaurants and cafes.   Seating is on long rows of wooden benches, which also make an appearance at Bansko’s other festivals and open-air events over the summer.  Or you can sit on the grass, stand at the pop-up food and drink areas, or while away the evening in one of the cafes and restaurants.

Map of the locations used in the Bansko Jazz Festival

You can also see the full map of the Bansko Jazz Festival locations here.

Bansko Jazz Festival Cost

The Bansko Jazz festival is FREE, apart from the VIP tickets.   You can pay for a ticket to sit in the VIP area, or, like most folks, enjoy the music and vibe from different vantage points throughout the evening.  There will be a VIP area roped off at the front of the seating area for true fans, but there’s still plenty of seating, or bring a camping chair and claim space. Tickets can be bought from the reception Kiosk area or the Bansko Municipality.   

You can also buy VIP tickets for the Bansko Jazz festival online here.

Some hotels will also provide them to their guests on request. If it rains, then the proceedings move indoors and there’s a small fee, which we’ll confirm as soon as it’s announced.

The price of the VIP tickets for the 2025 Bansko Jazz Festival cost from110 leva to 260 leva for all the days of the event You can buy daily tickets for 30 BGN to 50 BGN. Prices for tickets for the VIP areas for the 2025 Bansko Jazz Festival will be announced closer to the date.

Food and Drink at Bansko Jazz Festival 2025

There are several refreshment stalls – where you can grab a large cold beer for 4 leva or decent Bulgarian wine for 5 leva.  There’s bottled beer and wine too.   If you don’t want to sit down at one of the local restaurants or cafés, then there are snack stalls too.

Chips, meatballs, sausages, huge slices of pizza, crepes, ice cream, popcorn, and candy floss sit alongside the usual market stalls of hot corn on the cob.

Cocktails are also available. The food market now, in 2025, includes a Hendricks Gin tent (oooh)

The Bansko Jazz Festival Program 2025

The Bansko Jazz Festival has key features and types of performances each year.  You’ll find standard jazz, bebop, blues, swing, Dixieland, and boogie-woogies.  The Bansko Jazz Festival 2023 program began at 8 pm each night.  Each performance lasts around 90 minutes and there are two or three performers each night.  There are also events throughout the day as well, as well as midnight Jazz, read on for more information.

Here’s the schedule and lineup for the 2025 Bansko Jazz Festival main concerts.

Bansko Jazz 2025 Main Stage Schedule

Here’s the main stage schedule for the 2025 Bansko Jazz Festival:

Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 1 AUGUST, FRIDAY

• All Stars Big Band
• John Beasley Trio

Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 2 AUGUST, SATURDAY

• The Oldie Goldies
• Gabriel Palatchi Trio

Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 3 AUGUST, SUNDAY

• Boris Petkov Project with Arnau Garrofé, Vasil Hadjidurov, Stoyan Yankulov, f. Vicky Almazidu
• Catherine Russell Trio

Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 4 AUGUST, MONDAY

• Nils Landgren Funk Unit

Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 5 AUGUST, TUESDAY

• Borisav Yasenov Quartet
• Antal Gabor Connection

Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 6 AUGUST, WEDNESDAY

• The CapriHornS: Vellislav Stoyanov, Mihail Yossifov, Dimitar Liolev, Dimitris Vassilakis

Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 7 AUGUST, THURSDAY

• Kaloyan Kumonov Quintet
• Sultan Stevenson Trio

Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 8 AUGUST, FRIDAY

• Angel Demirev Quartet
• Ken Okada Group with Hristo Vitchev ft. YOKA

Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 9 AUGUST, SATURDAY

• Kristian Alexandrov’s F.U.J.A.F. ft. Shannon Gaye
• New York Voices

Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 10 AUGUST, SUNDAY

• Sunday Jam Session
• Simeon & Magdalena Todorova
• Jerry Bergonzi & George Garzone Quartet with Peter Slavov

Bansko Jazz 2025: World Scene (in the Park)

Held in the town park (see the map) from 19:00, this is a great opportunity to see world talents. You can read more about the artists on the world stage program here.

• August 2nd: BSO (Bingo Symphony Orchestra), Bulgaria – Meet the artist
• August 3rd: Irish Music and Dance, Sonas – Meet the Artist
• August 4th: Spice’n’Space, Funk /Jazz Trio, Israel – Meet the Artist
• August 5th: Fabio Lepore Jazz Quartet, Italy – Meet the Artist
• August 6th: Vali Boghean Band, Moldova – Meet the Artist
• August 7th: The Unforgettable – Meet the Artist
• August 8th: Meltem Ege Quartet, Turkey – Meet the Artist
• August 9th: Dirty Purchases, Bulgaria – Meet the Artist
• August 10th: Keubitbit, Indonesia – Meet the Artist

Bansko Jazz 2025 Family Jazz Events

Family events are in the town park, and start from 11:00. There’s more here on what to expect.

Bansko Jazz 2025 Young Talents Stage

The young talents stage at the Bansko Jazz festival is held in the town park (see the map).

For 2025 at the Bansko Jazz Festival, continuing the success of this in 2024, there is a Young Talents stage in the park. This starts at 11:00 and runs until 13:00. Here’s the schedule for the Young Talents Stage:

• August 2nd: Loving Memory
• August 3rd: Art Libitum Ensemble
• August 4th: Solar Flare
• August 5th: Feel the Groove
• August 6th: Vimbra
• August 7th: Funktion
• August 8th: “Jinx & Jazz”
• August 9th: The Fusion Rebels
• August 10th: All participants

Bansko Jazz 2025 – Jazz in the City – various locations

From 17:00 every day for the duration of the festival, there are Jazz Points at various locations around Bansko. You can see the Jazz Spots on the map

Jazz Spot 1: New World Cofffee (on Gotse Delchev)

• August 2
  Art Libitum Ensemble
• August 3
  Вимбра
• August 4
  The Fusion Rebels
• August 5
  Jazzology (RS)
• August 6
  Жените зад нотите “Jinx & Jazz”
• August 7
  Solar Flare
• August 8
  Funktion
• August 9
  Feel the Groove
• August 10
  Loving Memory – вдъхновението Самара Джой

Jazz Spot 2: кв. Новия град, ul. “Zahari Zograf” 2 (Pirin Street)

• August 2
  The Fusion Rebels
• August 3
  Feel the Groove
• August 4
  Жените зад нотите “Jinx & Jazz”
• August 5
  Funktion
• August 6
  Solar Flare
• August 7
  Jazzology (RS)
• August 8
  Loving Memory – вдъхновението Самара Джой
• August 9
  Вимбра
• August 10
  Art Libitum Ensemble

Jazz Spot 3: ZZ Land Play Cafe (On Gotse Delchev)

• August 2
  Жените зад нотите “Jinx & Jazz”
• August 3
  Jazzology (RS)
• August 4
  Funktion
• August 5
  The Fusion Rebels
• August 6
  Вимбра
• August 7
  Art Libitum Ensemble
• August 8
  Solar Flare
• August 9
  Loving Memory – вдъхновението Самара Джой
• August 10
  Feel the Groove

A Glass of Wine with…(at the community center)

At 19:30 in the “Nikola Vaptsarov – 1894” Community Center, visit and hear more from various Jazz Artists. You can read more about these artists here.

• August 6, : Mimi Nikolova
• August 7, : Nedko Troshanov
• August 8, : Stefan Slavov
• August 9, : Zhivko Petrov
• August 10, : Liana Antonova

Bansko Jazz 2025 – Jazz at Midnight – Ginger Bar and Diner.

Back again after the success of 2024 is the popular Jazz at Midnight in Bansko. These late-night jam sessions start at 11 pm (ish) and take place at the Ginger Bar & Diner.

FAQs about the Bansko Jazz Festival

Here are our frequently asked questions about the Jazz Festival in Bansko. If you have questions about the Bansko Jazz Festival, pop us a comment below.

What’s the official website of the Bansko Jazz Festival?

The official website of Bansko’s Jazz Festival is https://banskojazzfest.bg/

When does the Bansko Jazz Festival Start?

The Bansko Jazz Festival 2025 starts at 20:30 on 1st August 2025

What time do the main concerts start in the Bansko Jazz Fest?

The main sessions start at 20:30each night in the “old town square” in Bansko.

Is the Bansko Jazz Festival Free?

Yes. The Bansko Jazz Festival is entirely free. You can purchase VIP seats if you wish to be “closer to the action” (but it’s not necessary.)

Where is Bansko

Situated at the foot of the Pirin mountains, Bansko is well known as Bulgaria’s biggest ski resort.  The town is around a 2-hour drive from Bulgaria’s capital city, Sofia.   It can also be reached in around 2.5 hours from Plovdiv. There’s more on what to do in Bansko in Summer in our guide here.

How to get to Bansko

Bansko is easily reached from the capital city of Sofia – find out how in our guide to getting from Sofia to Bansko.  It’s also easy to get here from Bulgaria’s second city, the train journey from Plovdiv to Bansko is fabulous.

Check buses to Bansko from Sofia and Plovdiv here

Book a transfer from Sofia to Bansko here.

Leaving Bansko

Our guide on how to go from Bansko to Sofia is here.

Where else to go in Bulgaria

While you’re in Bulgaria make sure to stop by some of these great places and attractions.

• The best things to see and do in Sofia (Bulgaria’s Capital City)
• The best things to see and do in Plovdiv
• Veliko Tarnovo – Bulgaria’s Original Capital City
• Bulgaria’s Ski Capital, Bansko – in Summer
• The Annual Jazz Festival in Bansko
• The Ex-Dancing Bear Park at Belitsa
• Take a ride on the highest railway in the Balkans – from Bansko to Septemvri!
• Visit Bulgaria’s most beautiful building – UNESCO World Heritage Rila Monastery

Bulgaria Trip Planning Essentials

• Get Travel Insurance: Civitatis includes medical expenses, repatriation, theft, luggage delays. No deductibles or upfront payments. Get a quote here.
• Get online immediately with an eSIM
• Install a VPN BEFORE you travel to Bulgaria > discount coupon here
• Arrange your airport transfer in Bulgaria with Welcome Pickups.
• Make sure you can charge your electronics – here’s our guide to plug adapters in Bulgaria
• Top Attractions in Bulgaria to PREBOOK
  • Visit Rila Monastery + Boyana Church
  • Explore Veliko Tarnovo – Bulgaria’s Original Capital City
  • Go wine tasting in Melnik – Bulgaria’s wine capital
  • Take a FREE Walking Tour in Sofia
  • Explore Buzludzha aka the UFO Monument
  • Spend a day in GORGEOUS Plovdiv
• Book Buses + Transfers in Bulgaria with Bookaway
• Rent a Car in Bulgaria with Discover Cars
• Find the right accommodation for you via Booking.com

Final Words on the Bansko Jazz Festival 2025

The Bansko Jazz Festival is a glorious time to come to Bansko. There’s a family-friendly feel to the festival and some great musicians who make this a great event. Come along, sit in the seating area, or in the park, or at one of the cafes here in the town square. And then come back again next year too!

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