Bulgaria

Last update: March, 2020

According to the Law on the Protection and Development of Culture, the Minister of Culture is in charge of preparing and submitting for approval to the Council of Ministers a draft tariff for the fees that cultural institutes may collect. At the same time, all state cultural institutes offer discounts on ticket prices or free admission for children and young people under the age of 16-18, retirees, and disadvantaged people.

According to data from the National Statistics Institute a total of 5 084 387 people have visited Bulgarian museums in 2018, 1 024 552 of those visits have been free of charge.

Currently, there are several key programmes in Bulgaria that promote cultural participation and consumption in the country.

Traditionally, Sofia’s Culture Programme supports projects aimed at developing audiences. In the period 2019-2020, the programme prioritizes its Access to Culture programme and funds cultural projects that focus on topics that provoke the interest of specific audiences. In addition, projects providing preferential conditions for attracting specialised audiences and/or partnering with schools, social services, specialised institutions and other disadvantaged organisations will be supported. One of the goals of the programme is to include people who live outside the city centre and traditionally have much lower access to cultural life in the capital. The funds distributed under the Culture Programme in Sofia come from the municipal budget.

On the other hand, there is the National Culture Fund, whose funds are raised mainly from the state budget. Over the years, NFC has continued to fund projects in all areas of the arts and culture that address social issues and causes, or implement a creative process to engage and engage diverse audiences.

The programme Cultural Entrepreneurship, Heritage and Cooperation, funded under the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, is currently running. Among its foreseen results is improved access to culture and the arts.

Tourist maps, including opportunities for sightseeing, access to public transport and more, are not popular in Bulgaria. For example, a metropolitan municipality does not offer such a service.

In 2019, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education signed an agreement that students in grades one through ten were allowed to go to the theatre for free (see chapter 5.1). Schools and kindergartens have to submit requests for desired visits, which happens when applying for a special programme. Each school has the right to participate with one project worth BGN 2500 (EUR 1277). Within the framework of the agreement, the actors will visit the schools to present literary works to students.

In 2018, a similar agreement was signed by the two ministries, but in the fields of museums, galleries and cultural heritage. According to this agreement, museums and art galleries can hold classes, covering state, regional and municipal cultural institutes in the field. The document provides for the creation and introduction of museum education programmes. These programmes are also announced on the websites of museums and galleries at the beginning of each school year. The purpose of both ministries is to make these programmes part of general education training and the extracurricular activities.

The Ministry of Culture indicated that such a document was being produced as a draft in the field of libraries as well in 2018.

Last update: December, 2011

A sociological survey on "Public Opinion on Cultural Life, the Status of Artists and Cultural Reform" conducted in 1997 found that an insignificant proportion of Bulgaria's population (from 0.3% to 6% depending on the particular art form) participate in the traditional forms of cultural life several times a month. If we add the proportion of those who attend an art event once every few months, we will get a relatively stable group of about 10% to 15% of the population with comparatively active rates of participation in cultural life. Those who never go to the cinema, theatre, opera, concert or art exhibition comprise between 70% and 88% (depending on the particular art form) of the population. The majority (56% of the population) own 100 to 500 books, 6% to 7% are active book collectors, and 74% could not quote the name of the author or title of the last book they bought.

During the last 10 years, the number of young readers in Bulgaria increased by 15%, according to analysis of reading habits carried out in November 2004 by the sociological agency "ASSA-M" and commissioned by the Association "Bulgarian Books" and the National Book Centre under the Ministry of Culture. This study also indicated that 41% of the public do not read and had not purchased a book in the previous three months. Of the reading public, only 41% purchased books from bookshops and the remainder had received their books from friends.

In February 2005 the National Centre for Research on Public Opinion carried out a study on "Cultural attitudes and consumption of cultural products in Bulgaria". The study is representative at national level and it was carried out by the method of semi-standardised interviews. This is the first integral analysis for 15 years which is devoted to national cultural preferences and values, to the frequency, motivation and restraints in the demand for cultural products and services, as well as the role of education in this process. The study demonstrated that the main national leisure pursuit is watching TV - 57.4% of those interviewed. The next preferences are book reading (8%), listening to music (6%), and in this respect young people under 30 years of age are the leading group. Only 1.4% of the population visits the theatre, movies, opera, ballet, or exhibitions on a regular basis.

At the same time, 10.4% expressed an interest in visiting the theatre, concerts, opera, ballet and exhibitions - i.e. the difference between the real and the potential audience is 1:10. The main reasons given by interviewees for not pursuing leisure activities of personal interest to them were financial restrictions - 42%, lack of free time - 16%, and tiredness at the end of the day - 14%. However, when interviewees were asked for the reasons for not attending cultural events, the financial restraints are rated only in third place (14%) i.e. the price of the tickets is not the most important barrier. The reluctance to visit arts events is formed at an earlier stage and is defined by arguments such as "people from my social environment don't visit these places" - 32%, followed by "I feel unprepared for this type of cultural entertainment" - 17%. Therefore, the leading factor in low participation rates is more related to socio-cultural factors, such as family, friends, and the environment.

The role of education at a young age is a determining factor for development of the future consumer-connoisseur. When analysing the data from this study, the researcher Biljana Tomova draws the following conclusion: "The observed reduction in demand for cultural products and services over a period longer than a decade and the more and more restricted access of households to various forms of cultural entertainment is nowadays moving on to a completely new stage - one generation is lost for Bulgarian culture."

There are no surveys monitoring the participation of national minority groups or immigrant groups in cultural life.

Cultural participation in its traditional forms is obviously declining. There are two main reasons for this: economic hardship and a massive swing towards newer and more individualised forms of dissemination of culture: TV, video, cable, satellite. This distinct trend is associated with substantial changes not only in the frequency, but also in the forms, standards, and criteria of cultural participation.

In 2008, the National Statistical Institute carried out empirical research on "Participation of the population aged 25 - 64 in cultural activities and events" with EUROSTAT methodology. The results were published in 2009 and can be viewed in the tables below.

The empirical research encompasses frequenting of live performances, screenings, cultural landmarks, taking pictures, production of film and video recordings, creation of black and white drawings, sculptures and printing, composing poems, prose and short stories, taking part in creation of theater plays,  number of book read and number of book owned by a single household, number of newspapers read, attending amateur companies, practicing different hobbies, membership in associations, specific clubs.

The analysis finds out that of all cultural activities that were monitored reading newspapers is the predominant activity for 89% оf the respondents, as 44.7% оf them practice is daily or in two days time. Reading books is the second cultural activity most preferred for 52% of the Bulgarian respondents, as more than the half of them have read up to 6 books lifetime. 39.9% of the respondents prefer to attend to live performances, as the greatest number of visits amount to 3 visits per year. Next come visits to cultural landmarks chosen by 29.7% of the respondents, followed by attending cinema screenings - 19.1% and taking pictures, production of film and video recordings. The cultural activates which are most popular with the population are the participations in public performances - 3.5%, creation of black and white drawings, sculptures and printing - 3.1%, composing poems, prose and short stories - 1.1%. Briefly - all these activities that require personal commitment. The finding is that the respondents prefer to be consumers of cultural activities but not to be their authors even when the point is the amateur art.

Table 16:   Attendance at live performances, by age, gender, education, labour status and residence, 2007

¹According to the opinion of the interviewees, not by ILO definitions, so people, who do not have a job and do not search for one are self-assessed as unemployed, not as inactive.

Table 17:   Visits to the cinema, by age, gender, education, labour status and residence, 2007

¹According to the opinion of the interviewees, not by ILO definitions, so people, who do not have a job and do not search for one are self-assessed as unemployed, not as inactive.

Table 18:   Visits to cultural sites, by age, gender, education, labour status and residence, 2007

¹According to the opinion of the interviewees, not by ILO definitions, so people, who do not have a job and do not search for one are self-assessed as unemployed, not as inactive.

Table 19:   Artists taking photographs, making movies, recording videotapes, by age, gender, education, labour status and residence, 2007

Table 20:   Visual artists - painting, drawing, sculpture or print-making aged 25-64, by age, gender, education, labour status and residence, 2007

Table 21:   Writers of prose, poems, short stories aged 25-64, by age, gender, education, labour status and residence, 2007

Table 22:   Persons who participated in public performances, by gender, age, education, labour status and residence, 2007

Table 23:   Population according to number of books at home, by gender, age, education, labour status and residence, 2007

Table 24:   Population reading newspapers, by gender, age, education, labour status and residence, 2007

Table 25:   Population participating in activities of amateur collectives, associations, clubs of interest, aged 25-64 by gender, age, education, labour status and residence, 2007

Source:      National Statistical Institute, 2009 http://www.nsi.bg/

Table 26:   Number of theatres, seats and shows, 1998 - 2009

Table 27:   Number of cinemas, screenings, visits and ticket sales, 1998-2009

Table 28:   Number of libraries and Chitalishte, 1998-2009

Table 29:   Visitors to museums and galleries, 1998-2009

Table 30:   Film production, television and radio stations, 1998-2009

Source:      Statistical Reference book 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009; National Statistical Institute, Bulgaria 2009.
*                 Culture clubs.
**              From 2002 to 2004 and in 2006, the NSI covered libraries only stocking more than 200 000 items.
***            Libraries stocking more than 2 000 items.
Note:         From 2002, the NSI will update data on theatres, cinemas and chitalishte on a five-year basis.

Table 31 and 32 provide data on rates of participation in those areas of cultural life that do not receive notable public subsidies, mainly the fields of book publishing and other printed media.

Table 31:   Published books and brochures, 1998-2009

Source:      National Statistical Institute, "Bulgaria 2005", Sofia, 2009, http://www.nsi.bg/

Table 32:   Published newspapers, magazines and bulletins, 1998-2009

Source:      http://www.nsi.bg/

Last update: March, 2020

Table 5: Household cultural expenditure by expenditure purpose, 2011 and 2015

Last update: March, 2020

Cultural inclusion in the country is fragmented, with the capital and major cities offering more opportunities for participation to its citizens compared to smaller cities and villages.

Chitalishte is one of the most widespread forms of socio-cultural centres in the country. They provide various activities and opportunities for activity and recreation, including music and dance, clubs, sports and group activities.

By the end of 2017, there were 3 321 socio-cultural centres registered in the country. In the same year, they organised 21 267 festive celebrations, 7 130 book presentations, 24 334 festivals, 3 762 gatherings, 1 001 museum gatherings, 4 245 cinema screenings and 12 531 other cultural and creative activities. They are also an appropriate space for teachers or instructors to pursue private activity and provide paid lessons.

The socio-cultural centres (chitalishta) can raise funds from membership fees, cultural and other activities, rents, donations, and more. However, the main source of funding is the state subsidy, which is provided through the respective municipal budget.

According to data from the National Statistics Institute, there were 47 libraries in the country in 2018 with a stock of more than 200 000 units (documents, books, periodicals, etc.). Most of them are in the southwestern region of the country, of which Sofia is also part. A total of 239 000 readers are registered for the year of 2018, which is 3.6% less than in 2017. However, visits have increased by 6.7% on an annual basis.

In big cities there are other forms of cultural centres. In Sofia, for example, in 2015, the project „читАлнЯта“ (The Reading Room) was launched, which is being implemented by the City Reading Association together with the municipal enterprise Tourism of the Sofia Municipality.