For the second consecutive year, Blagoevgrad hosted the Balkan Theatre Festival. From November 2nd to 6th, the stage of the Drama Theater in Blagoevgrad once again welcomed some of the most spectacular performances – three of which are among the most significant theatrical events in contemporary Bulgarian theater. Additionally, there was a performance featuring young talents from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts 'Krastyo Sarafov' (NATFA), and the international participation in this year's edition came from the Theater Novi Sad in Serbia.

The festival's program featured some of the most awarded and spectacular performances on the Bulgarian stage. The festival opened on November 2nd with the play 'The Canterbury Tales' by the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA) with the class of Prof. Penko Gospodinov. On November 3rd, the play 'The Thessaloniki Assassins' by Georgi Danailov, directed by Stayko Murdjev, was performed. This play, which tells the story of bomb attacks in Thessaloniki in 1903, received the most nominations (5 categories) at the IKAR Awards 2023. It won the 'Plovdiv 2023' award in the 'Theatre' category and the IKAR Award 2023 for 'Supporting Female Role' for Margita Gosheva. The international guests of the festival this year were from the Theater Novi Sad in Serbia. The audience had the opportunity to see the spectacular production of Leo Tolstoy's great Russian novel 'Anna Karenina,' which brought numerous awards and selections for European festivals to the theater in Novi Sad. 'Homecoming' by Harold Pinter, directed by Yavor Gurdev, was the fifth play in the festival program. The play by the Little City Theatre 'Off the Chanel' is among the favorites of the theatrical season in 2021, receiving the ASKEER 2021 award in the 'Costume Design' category. It was also nominated in five categories for ASKEER 2021 and one category for the IKAR Awards 2021. The Balkan Theatrical Festival 2023 concluded on November 6th with the magnificent play 'Antigone' by the Drama and Puppet Theatre 'Ivan Radoev' in Pleven. After a seven-year absence from the Bulgarian stage, director Alexander Morfov staged a vivid theatrical ensemble performance, honored with the ASKEER 2023 award for 'Best Performance.'

In addition to the selected performances, the 'Nikola Vaptsarov' Drama Theatre in Blagoevgrad announced a competition for young directors. Participants included Nadya Pancheva, Karina Somnoeva, and Rostislav Georgiev, who was given the opportunity to stage a play on the Blagoevgrad stage in 2024

The festival is realized with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Blagoevgrad, 'Gromahold' Ltd, 'Hitachi Energy' - Bulgaria, Hotel 'Park Bachinovo,' Hotel 'Alpha,' and Hotel 'Diva.