47 Tsar Simeon Str.
1000 Sofia Center, Sofia
created with
the support of
For the first time, Bulgaria hosted the European Design Festival & Awards, one of Europe’s established international events dedicated to communication design. At the invitation of the European Design Awards, Studio Komplekt participated in an international bid and won the privilege to organise the 20th edition of the festival in Sofia in 2026.
Over four days in June, the city became a meeting point for designers, studios, educators, students and creative professionals from across Europe. The programme brought together a conference, exhibitions, workshops, studio visits, city tours, professional meetings and the European Design Awards ceremony.
One of the main highlights was the two-day conference at Toplocentrala, featuring international and Bulgarian speakers and exploring contemporary communication design — from branding, typography and visual communication to animation, editorial design, creative leadership and cultural initiatives.
The festival unfolded across different locations in Sofia through exhibitions and special projects, including &NowEast, 20 Years of European Communication Design, BOOK’N’SPACE, the student exhibition REFORMS by IKEA & the National Academy of Art, the presentation of the IKEA PS Collection, an exhibition dedicated to Gaetano Pesce, and Sebastian Kuri’s solo exhibition To Plant a Garden Is to Believe in Tomorrow.
As hosts and organisers, Komplekt and Melba created a connections between the international design community and the local scene, presenting Sofia as an active part of the European design dialogue. The festival brought together hundreds of professionals and fostered the exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas across national and professional boundaries.
A special moment for the Bulgarian design scene was the Silver award received by Paul Vogenreiter and Miroslav Zhivkov / Dzhingibi for TaM 13th Birthday Poster in the Self-Promotion – Print category — the first European Design Award received by a Bulgarian participant in the history of the awards.
The festival was organised by Studio Komplekt and Melba Design Foundation, in partnership with the European Design Awards and the International Council of Design (ICoD), with the support of institutional and strategic partners. Visual identity by Next-DC.
Video recap here.
Pictures: © Mihail Novakov