Rivers of Sofia

Since 2020, The Collective Foundation has been developing Rivers of Sofia—its flagship initiative to reclaim some of the city’s most neglected and inaccessible riverbanks. Sofia is a city shaped by water, yet many stretches along its rivers have long been treated as “backside” territory: cut off by infrastructure, pushed out of everyday routes, and associated with neglect rather than public life. Rivers of Sofia began with a tiny budget and a big idea, built through partnerships, in-kind support, and hands-on collective effort—showing, from the start, that access and care can be created before big construction arrives. What the project offers is a different logic: rivers are not a “problem to hide”, but a public resource to reveal.Over the past five years, the festival of the same name has grown into one of the most popular cultural events in Bulgaria, welcoming tens of thousands of people and changing the city’s sense of where culture belongs. In 2025 alone, it attracted more than 82,000 visitors and delivered 200+ free events, open to everyone. The riverbanks became a stage—supporting emerging voices across music, performance, and contemporary public art. In 2025, the visual programme included five site-specific artworks on the theme of rivers, created by five artists selected through an open call—bringing new artistic language into places that were previously invisible.But the festival is not the point—it is the tool. Its role is to make the river visible, legible, and desired; to prove, in public and at scale, what the river can be when it is treated as an urban asset. During the festival, the rivers become accessible and safe—activated through recreation, cinema, theatre, sports, and children’s play. People do not come only to watch; they come to stay, to meet, to return. And beyond the programme, the initiative insists on the long-term work: the conditions that keep riverbanks inactive—sewerage, planning, maintenance, responsibility. The message is consistent: temporary activation is not decoration; it is evidence.That consistency has had consequences. The scale of public engagement has helped move rivers from the margins to the municipal agenda. In 2024, the mayor and district representatives signed a memorandum for the rivers, and major clean-up work began on 120+ sewage overflow points—steps that support cleaner waterways and a new public language, where people increasingly say “rivers” instead of “canals.” The shift is not only technical; it is cultural. It is a collective re-naming of what the city values.For 2026, the festival is planned to expand its physical interventions and the territory it unlocks, concentrating on South Park along the Perlovska River. The ambition is simple and concrete: to clean, open, and make accessible a larger riverside area—not only for the festival days, but as a year-round public resource. The programme will scale accordingly: three music stages, one stage for lectures and discussions, a family-focused play zone with events and installations, a workshops area, and a pavilion zone presenting other NGOs and green ideas—so the riverbank becomes a continuous setting for culture, learning, and everyday civic life.