On 7 and 8 August the two stage facilities in the central beach of the Black Sea port of Burgas are going to welcome more than 200 Bulgarian and foreign musicians. The festival's headliners, British and world stars Robbie Williams and Kasabian, are expected to attract 20,000-strong audiences.

“Robbie Williams has more than 700 live concerts on his record but this will be his first one in Bulgaria - a spectacular two-hour show by the sea”, explains Niya Konstantinova, representative of the festival's organizers. “This is the reason why he picked up Burgas as one of the 25 stopovers in his Let Me Entertain You Tour. Kasabianhas been one of the most successful British bands of late. Last year they had a call that any ambitious band is delighted to answer - they got invited to headline one of the world's biggest festivals - at Glastonbury.The band has vowed to welcome the sunrise in Burgas.”

What will be the other stars at the Spirit of Burgas - Niya Konstantinova says more:

„Kwabsis one of the leading British musicians this year. His hit Walk has fared brilliantly on the charts. He is expected here with his own live band. Milow is mostly known for his hit Ayo Technology-a cover of the song of Justin Timberlake. Stereo MCs are also a big name. This is not their first appearance here, and they already have local fans.”

The Bulgarian band Mastilo opens the Spirit of Burgasand will warm up the audience for the headliner - Robbie Williams is planned to appear about 10 pm. On the second day the central stage presents another Bulgarian band, Hayes & Y, a young band freshly back from a tour of UK. P.I.F., Ogi 23 and Kottarashky are the other Bulgarian names at the festival.

“The stage will be huge, almost unseen in this part of the world”, Niya Konstantinova goes on to say. “It looks like the Robbie Williams stages on other points of his world tour. So, the trucks that transport the stage components arrived to Burgas last week. Yes, it is going to be huge with amazing effects. The second one will be smaller but good enough too to comply with the requirements of the fans.”

The small stage has been named In the Dark and will present a mix of Bulgarian and Balkan performers with more alternative styles. One of the bands scheduled to play there is P.I.F.

In practice, the Spirit of Burgas will open on the train. EnterTRAIN (a pun on Robbie William's Let Me Entertain You Tour)leaves on 7 August from Sofia, explains Niya Konstantinova:

“The music train leaves early in the morning and will return on 9 August. It will be equipped with a DJ, music and will offer a pre-party of the Spirit of Burgas. We advise fans to opt for the train, the most environmental kind of transport. The holders of Spirit of Burgas tickets will have a discount from the train fare, and what is more, the event's after-party will take place on the train as well.”

The doors of Spirit of Burgas open at 5 pm. Visitors have been urged to come earlier so as to prevent big crowds gathering at the event's area entrance.

English Daniela Konstantinova 

Photos: Spirit of Burgas

The audio file contains the following tracks

1. Let Me Entertain You, Robbie Williams

2. Fire, Kasabian

3. Paint me a Song, P.I.F

4. I Am Alone in the Palace, Mastilo

5. Tempe, Kottarashky