FUN / HYPE

1-7 October

GOLDEN DOLPHIN INTERNATIONAL PUPPET THEATRE FESTIVAL

Varna Puppet Theatre
4 Dragoman St, Varna
phone: (052) 607 844

Twenty troupes from Bulgaria, Russia, Romania, Greece and Italy perform productions that vary from children's plays, such as Wilhelm Hauff's "The History of Little Mook" and Bulgarian fairy tales, to shows based on classic works by Voltaire, Gogol and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry for their parents, to street performances. A puppet- and mask-making workshop is also on the agenda.

4 October 

ESTRELA MORENTE

National Palace of Culture, Hall 1
1 Bulgaria Sq, Sofia
phone: 916 6369

The glamorous flamenco artist performs from her 2006 album Mujeres. On it Estrella pays tribute to the great female voices of her time — the likes of Carmen Linares, Pastora, Susana Renaldi and Nina Simone, to mention but a few. Novices to flamenco would recognise her as the voice behind Penelope Cruz's song in Pedro Almodovar's Volver, while fans would confirm that the flamenco guitarist Enrique Morente's daughter has established herself as an artist in her own right. Check out if she's as dramatic to look at as she is to listen to.

7-31 October

ANDREY DANIEL

EIBank Gallery
2 Slavyanska St, Sofia
phone: 939 9280

Andrey Daniel, 56, a professor at the National Art Academy with countless solo and joint exhibitions and whose works are displayed in art galleries in and outside Bulgaria, has repeatedly said his exhibits document his experiences and contemplations. This new one, The Things Outside Us, is no exception.

15 October

RICHARD CLAYDERMAN

National Palace of Culture, Hall 1
1 Bulgaria Sq, Sofia
phone: 916 6369

Possibly the world's most popular instrumental recording artist, Clayderman plays with the Classic FM M-Tel Orchestra in a show that is part of his ongoing world tour. Born Philippe Pagès, Clayderman is to blame for making classical music familiar to a really great number of people with his easy-to-listen piano renditions. For tickets, visit www.tickets-bg.com.

up to 16 October

KUHE IN EUROPA

Goethe-Institut
1 Budapest St, Sofia
phone: 939 0100

Berlin-based artist and photographer Ursula Böhmer has turned her lens on Europe's bovine population, and produced a remarkable series of portraits. Her "Cows in Europe" project features Friesian, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Bulgarian
breeds. Don't expect anything that you might see in breeders' catalogues or chocolate advertisements: Böhmer's four-square black-and-white images show subjects that gaze into the camera calm and dignified in a manner reminiscent of conventional portrait photography.

22-26 October

FILMINI 2.0 INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

Cinema House (Dom na Kinoto)
7 Ekzarh Yosif St, Sofia
phone: 980 39 11
Euro-Bulgarian Cultural Centre
17 Stamboliyski Blvd, Sofia
phone: 988 0084

More than 900 short films from around the world entered the second Filmini festival and 70 of them made it to the audiences in Sofia. The international competition features the latest shorts, a Balkan programme focuses on works from the region, and for the first time there are also animated and experimental shorts.

24 October

MARIZA

Bulgaria Concert Hall
1 Aksakov St, Sofia
phone: 987 7656

The undisputed queen of Portuguese fado plays from her new album Terra, her first with Spanish guitarist/producer Javier Limón. Just like the previous three studio albums, Terra is a mix of updates of classic fados and recent compositions, yet this time, although still dominating, fado has dashes of Spanish flamenco and Cape Verdean morna thrown into it. Mariza and her band perform in the rather small Bulgaria Hall so check out ticket availability at www.tickets-bg.com.

24 October - 7 November

A TRACE

The Red House Centre for Culture and Debate
17 Lyuben Karavelov St, Sofia
phone: 988 81 88

What do the surviving Communist period monuments – Bratskata mogila, or The Common Grave, the Red Army Monument in Sofia, the Freedom Ark in the Beklemeto locality and many more – look like today? Check out the display that resulted from the Traces of Yesterday and Today: Archeology of Present Time photo competition. Authors include Nadezhda Yurukova, Missirkov & Bogdanov, Alexander Yordanov, Nikola Mihov, Krasimir Umarski. The opening day of the exhibition also sees a discussion on the future of the 1,300 Years Bulgaria monument near NDK.

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