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[title]Time Out recently declared the ancient Bulgarian city of Plovdiv to be the most underrated in Europe. But despite having its ups and downs over the 8,000 years it’s been inhabited, it’s definitely having a moment right now. That’s partly because the erstwhile Macedonian and Roman town of Philippopolis is an absolute treasure trove of ancient architecture, much of which is still being unearthed to this day.
But it’s not all pagan temples and Roman theatres. A wag might say there were also some impressive ancient relics on display at the newly launched PhillGood Festival (Phillgood because Philippopolis), which held its inaugural edition in 2026. Staged next to an atmospheric disused stadium on the outskirts of town, its debut notably brought a large number of mostly British music legends to Bulgaria for the first time in their lengthy careers, with The Cure and Gorillaz headlining the first two nights and US star Moby winding things up on the Sunday.
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The order of the day is quality over quantity: there are just three stages and each has only four acts per evening. Things kick off around 6.30pm, with the PhillCool stage having a more local line-up, PhillRave playing host to the dance artists, and the main PhillGood stage hosting splashier larger European acts – notably Wolf Alice, Kneecap and Suede in the first edition, as well as the headliners. There are short changeover times and largely staggered sets making for three really efficient evenings.
It was also a lot of fun: the modestly sized festival (it has a capacity of around 20,000) is largely defined by big acts making long awaited Bulgarian debuts, which makes for a hugely enthusiastic domestic crowd genuinely delirious with pride that Robert Smith and Damon Albarn had finally shown up in their country.
The overwhelming majority of the audience was local, but there were a few foreigners sprinkled around and it is certainly pretty good value if you like UK alternative music of the last few decades. With a weekend ticket costing between €100 and €150 depending when exactly you buy it, it’s vastly cheaper than the UK equivalent and a beer will set you back a paltry €2.
Camping tickets are available and are pretty good value if you’re really looking to cut costs, but it’s worth emphasising that the summer is fierce here – expect temperatures in the mid-30s – and there’s not much to do on site until the evening other than fry in your tent. Given the festival is literally in the city, I would emphatically recommend getting an air conditioned rental or hotel room and take it easy enough to pack in Plovdiv’s stunning but easily walkable old town and collection of antique ruins.
Tickets for the 2027 edition are available now (blind pre-sale ones – the official dates haven’t been announced yet), and while the compact nature of the line up means I’d probably wait to see who’s playing before booking a ticket, it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for when the announcement comes – seeing rock legends by night and buildings from the age of legend by day is a pretty perfect minibreak.
The second ever edition of PhillGood Festival will take place in the summer of 2027. Time Out travelled as guests of PhillGood.
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