Fest Team, Plovdiv Municipality and Plovdiv 2019 Municipal Foundation connect PHILLGOOD and HILLS OF ROCK in a common city month with art, music and a festival route through the heart of the city.

Less than two weeks before the official start of the hot music days in Plovdiv, the festival spirit goes beyond the Rowing Base and takes to the streets of the city. PHILLGOOD MONTH 2026 is a joint initiative of Fest Team, Plovdiv 2019 Foundation and Plovdiv Municipality and connects the city’s two major July festivals, PHILLGOOD (July 17-19) and HILLS OF ROCK (July 24-26), in a month in which Plovdiv lives, sounds and looks like … a festival! New large-scale graffiti, photo corners, evening visual and audio installations, a lively festival zone in the center, 16 bars with signature cocktails and limited coasters, a collector’s bilingual book and festive decorations in the most lively places turn the city into a natural continuation of the festival scene under the motto ONE CITY. ONE HEARTBEAT.
“Festival cities in Europe are recognizable from the first moment you step into the city. The festival is felt in the square, on the facades, and in the bar on the corner, even days before the first chord is struck. This is exactly what we are building in Plovdiv together with the Municipality of Plovdiv and the Municipal Foundation “Plovdiv 2019”. PHILLGOOD MONTH connects PHILLGOOD and HILLS OF ROCK in a month in which the city and the scene have a common pulse. Our desire is for the guests and citizens of the city to feel and become part of this common energy,” says Stefan Elenkov, executive director of Fest Team.
The model is well known from European cities that have built their identity around their festivals. With PHILLGOOD MONTH, Plovdiv takes this step with the active participation of the Municipality, local business and the artistic community. Over a quarter of the tickets sold for PHILLGOOD were bought by audiences outside Bulgaria and for thousands of international guests the first encounter with the festival will take place not at the Rowing Base, but in Kapana.

Starting this week, the PHILLGOOD MONTH festival zone opens on Stefan Stambolov Square, the place for the official merch of Fest Team festivals, meetings and information about the entire program. Every evening, the facade of the Boris Hristov House of Culture turns into a festival screen, and branded garlands with festival flags dress up Malkata Glavna, Kapana and Central Square. Between July 11 and 15, graffiti artist NASSIMO will create a new large-scale mural on the facade of Hristo Dyukmedzhiev Street in Kapana, and everyone will be able to watch him work live, while the work will remain part of the urban environment even after the end of the festival season.
The festival route passes through 16 of the most beloved establishments in the center of Plovdiv, each marked with the bright pink PHILLGOOD sticker. Inside, guests will find a menu with six signature cocktails inspired by the two festivals and limited festival coasters. A QR code on each table leads to the full program, a map of the locations and the official page of the ONE CITY initiative. ONE HEARTBEAT. The rules are simple: follow the stickers, collect the coasters, take a picture and share with #PhillGoodMonth.
From the participating establishments and key points in the city (Kotka i Mishka, Lokal, Fargo Club, Temple Bar, Posta Bar, SIPI Bar, Malkite Konyushni, Fabrik Bar, No Sense Bar, Download Bar, Beebop, Nylona Club, Politiko, Kontrabas Club, Sandaki Bar, Bally Club) everyone can get a free 62-page bilingual collector’s booklet with the full program of the initiative, Fest Team festivals and a city guide with routes, landmarks and recommendations for Plovdiv, in Bulgarian and English.

“Summer in Plovdiv is always special, but this year the city will live to the rhythm of music throughout July. PHILLGOOD is a festival that brings people together through good music and good mood. Its energy will be felt not only on the stages, but throughout the city. Plovdiv will once again show that it knows how to be a good host of big events and I believe that Plovdiv residents and our thousands of guests will leave with fond memories of an unforgettable experience,” says Kostadin Dimitrov, Mayor of Plovdiv.
PHILLGOOD will take place from July 17 to 19 at the Rowing Base in Plovdiv with three stages, PHILLGOOD, PHILLCOOL and PHILLRAVE and a program that brings together some of the most influential names on the global and Bulgarian music scene. A week later, on July 23, it is BE4 Hills, and from July 24 to 26, HILLS OF ROCK takes over the baton and closes the festival month of Plovdiv. The full program is on phillgood.ink and hillsofrock.com, and the remaining tickets – on ticketstation.bg. Until the last chord of July, Plovdiv remains the city where the festival happens everywhere.
The PHILLGOOD and HILLS OF ROCK festivals are part of the “Heritage” program of the European Capital of Culture.