Dragon Boat Cultural Festival in Yambol
On 12 and 13 September 2026, Yambol City Park will host the festival “In the Rhythm of the Duanwu Festival – Rowing Forward Together”, dedicated to dragon boat culture and the friendship between Bulgaria and China.
Over the course of two days, visitors will have the opportunity to experience Bulgarian and Chinese culture through dragon boats, music, dance, martial arts, traditions and culinary delights.
Bulgarian-Chinese Culinary and Cultural Market
On both festival days, from 10:00 to 20:00, Yambol City Park will host a Bulgarian-Chinese culinary, cultural and creative market.
12 September – Opening Ceremony, Dragon Boats and Stefan Valdobrev
Saturday's programme begins at 10:00, followed at 13:00 by performances from the “Rombana” dance group, the “Chinari” ensemble and the “Prima” vocal group.
The official opening ceremony begins at 13:30, with welcoming remarks from the Mayor of Yambol Municipality, Valentin Revanski, and the Ambassador of China to Bulgaria, Her Excellency Ms Dai Qingli. The ceremony will also feature the traditional “Awakening the Dragon” ritual.
From 14:00, visitors can enjoy wushu and Kyokushin karate demonstrations, followed by a musical programme featuring dance groups and singers from the Confucius Institute at Veliko Tarnovo University, Yambol and the surrounding region.
At 17:00, the dragon boat demonstrations begin, followed by presentations from sports clubs from Yambol at 19:00. The highlight of the first evening will be Stefan Valdobrev's concert at 19:30.
13 September – Music, Sports and More Dragon Boats
On Sunday, the festival continues from 10:00. At 11:00, the programme features performances by a dance group from the Confucius Institute at Veliko Tarnovo University, the Guitar School and the Pop Singing Studio at the Yambol Municipal Children's Complex, followed by wushu and Kyokushinkai demonstrations.
At 12:00, there will be a concert by the “Yambol” formation, Nikolina Savova and Nayden Savov, followed at 14:00 by a musical programme featuring performers from Yambol.
The dragon boat demonstrations return at 16:00. The festival programme concludes from 18:00 with a performance by the City Wind Orchestra at the “Saglasie-1862” Community Centre and the Pop Singing Studio at the Yambol Municipal Children's Complex.
