Events in the year 2026 in Bulgaria.
Incumbents President: Rumen Radev (until 23 January); Iliana Iotova (since 23 January) Prime Minister: Rosen Zhelyazkov (until 12 February); Andrey Gyurov (12 February to 8 May); Rumen Radev (from 8 May)
Events January 1 January – Adoption of the euro. 19 January – President Rumen Radev announces his resignation effective 23 January. 23 January – Iliana Iotova becomes the first female president of Bulgaria following Rumen Radev's resignation.
February 1 February – The end of circulation of the Bulgarian lev. 11 February – President Iotova nominates Andrey Gyurov, the deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, as caretaker prime minister. He is formally appointed the next day.
April 19 April – 2026 Bulgarian parliamentary election: The Progressive Bulgaria coalition led by former president Rumen Radev wins a plurality of 44.6% of votes in elections to the National Assembly.
May 8 May – Rumen Radev is formally elected as prime minister by the National Assembly. 16 May – Bulgaria's Dara wins Eurovision 2026 in Austria with the single "Bangaranga", making her the first contestant from Bulgaria to win the Eurovision Song Contest.
June 9 June – The Radev government announces that it would stop supplying weapons to Ukraine. July 17 July – The Monument to Vasil Levski in Targovishte is officially opened. 22 July – The National Assembly approves the stationing of an American aerial refueling tanker at Bezmer Air Base. August 8 August – A drone that originated from Romania explodes near a section of the Trans-Balkan pipeline in the vicinity of the Kardam border crossing. 10–16 August – 2026 Men's European U-20 Water Polo Championship in Varna.New dates for 2026 European U20 Water Polo Championships announced, europeanaquatics.org. 30 September 2025. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
September 9–26 September – 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship in Bulgaria, Finland, Italy and Romania.
October 3 October – Greece repatriates the remains of Samuel of Bulgaria, which were previously stored in Thessaloniki, to Sofia.
Predicted and scheduled events 25 October – 2026 Bulgarian presidential election
Art and entertainment List of Bulgarian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
Holidays
1 January – New Year's Day 3 March – Liberation Day 10 April – Orthodox Good Friday 11–13 April – Orthodox Easter 1 May – Labour Day 6 May – Armed Forces Day and Saint George's Day 24 May – Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavic Script Day 6 September – Unification Day 22 September – Independence Day 1 November – Day of the Bulgarian Enlighteners 24 December – Christmas Eve 25–26 December – Christmas Days
Deaths 3 January – Dimitar Penev, 80, football player (CSKA Sofia, national team) and manager (national team) 16 March – Elza Goeva, 97, painter. 28 April – Vasko Boev, 37, football player (Spartak Varna, Kaliakra Kavarna, Dobrudzha Dobrich) 2 June – Lyuben Dilov Jr., 61, writer and journalist, MP (2005–2009, since 2021). 10 July – Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov, 74, cosmonaut (Mir EP-2). 6 September – Hristo Spasov, 38, footballer (Chepinets, Naftex, Bansko).
References
External links Online calendar