The International Puppet Festival The Golden Dolphin was established in 1972. Its 19th issue is forthcoming in 2025. It is held once in every three years, from 1st to 7th October.
Let's look at the beginning...
The year is 1969. State Puppet Theatre of Varna is an initiator of state theatre celebrations. Its success is unexpected and it turns into festival of the Bulgarian puppet theatre play next year. On October 1972, the first international festival of the Bulgarian puppet play is opened officially. This is The Golden Dolphin. A unique forum appears on the palette of the international theatre festivals to support and defend the Bulgarian puppet dramaturgy for many years yet.
The Golden Dolphin Award
Since then, The Golden Dolphin takes place every three years, in the beginning of October, in Varna. "Your rose is so precious for you, because of the time you spent for it", the Fox says to the Little Prince. When this is time, enthusiasm, efforts and goodwill of thousands of people - organizers, creators, followers from far and near places, public figures and audience, then the confirmation of The Golden Dolphin is possible and it turns into a centre of best achievements in the puppet theatre art all over the world. The festival becomes a significant event in the chronicles of our national culture. It promotes the development of the Bulgarian puppet theatre and contributes to its popularity here and abroad.
During past 50 years The Golden Dolphin attracted the attention of imminent Bulgarian authors like Valeri Petrov, Rada Moskova, Yordan Radichkov, Boris Aprilov and many others to the problematics of the puppet theatre for children. Their works reveal in a new light the puppet theatre social function. Along with this, the festival is a stage giving way to the expression of brilliant talents in the field of puppet staging, stage design, music and acting. The parallel programs: workshops, seminars, stage design exhibitions, theoretical conferences, meetings, discussions, enjoy the exceptional interest by the festival participants and guests.
Within the last editions, these are:
•Educational theatre - open seminars and demonstrative performances of a new theatre form supporting the educational program in the primary school;
• Puppets and Therapy - the puppet theatre as a mean of expression in the communication to help the disabled children;
• Exhibitions of imminent stage designers and of stage design projects by stage design students from Krastyu Sarafov NATFA and the National Academy of Arts.
The changes in the Bulgarian society at the end of past century impose some changes in the festival statute. So, the tenth festival edition in 1996 is held in three sections:
• Staging a new Bulgarian puppet play or after a Bulgarian stage adaptation of an artistic work written after the last festival edition;
• A puppet performance for children;
• A puppet performance for adults
The performances from the competition program are assessed by an international jury, the members of which are imminent experts in the field of puppet theatre art and by a children's jury established at the last few editions.
The Golden Dolphin…
A festival of respecting traditions that develops and grows up over years because it draws life-giving water from the never failing source of this ancient and modern art.
A festival wanted and waited for by the creators and the audience because it had never disappointed their hopes to see the newest, the best, the most interesting of what is made on both Bulgarian and worldwide puppet stage; to commensurate their own works with those of their colleagues in an exceptionally kind-hearted and supporting professional environment; to meet both new and old friends…
Where is the Dolphins' gold kept…
2022
Performances for children:
State Puppet Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance "Through the Looking Glass" – Musical adapted from the novel by Lewis Carroll
Performances for adults:
State Puppet Theatre, Almaty, Kazakhstan
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare
2017
Performances for adults:
State Puppet Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance „Orpheus”- visual performance based on motifs from ancient mythology ,director – Boian Ivanov
2014
Performances for children:
Sofia Puppet Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award for an overall performance to Tale of the Wandering King, after Karel Čapek, directed by Katya Petrova
Special awards for worthy debuting at the Golden Dolphin Festival to The Key Theatre , Tel Aviv, Israel and to The Puppet Theatre Haet-Sal , Suwon, Korea.
2011
Performances for children:
Sofia Puppet Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance The Story of the Seagull and the Gang of Tomcats, direction by Katya Petrova
Performances for adults:
State Puppet Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance Outlook of a Stump, direction by Tedy Moskov
Co-production of SPT Plovdiv, SPT Stara Zagora, SPT Burgas
Special prize to the performance Oedipus.The Feast of Blindness
2008
Sofia Puppet Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance The Big Laugh by Maria Stankova, direction by Veselka Kuncheva
Graduate Student`s Company, Sofia, Bulgaria
Special prize to the performances Jack and the Bean Stalk; Beyond Boundaries, direction by Zheni Pashova
2005
State Puppet Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance A Story About the Singing Tree after Langeskøld Hoffmann, stage adaptation and direction by Slavcho Malenov
2002
State Puppet Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria
Special prize to the performance Hercules, script and direction by Sunny Suninski
Libelula Puppet Theatre, Segovia, Spain
Special prize to the performance The Defendant of France, directed by Julio Michel
1999
Atelier 313 Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance Buratino directed by Slavcho Malenov.
Ariel Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria
Special prize to the performance Cardboard Dreams directed by Ruben Garabedyan
1996
State Puppet Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award for overall highly professional performance
1993
Credo Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance Greatcoat after N.V.Gogol
1990
Puk Theatre, Tokyo, Japan
A gold medal to the performance A Rabbits' School by Pencho Manchev
1988
Dora Gabe Puppet Theatre, Tolbuhin, Bulgaria
A gold medal to the performance Ones Can It, Others Not by Stefan Moskov and Simon Shvarz
1984
Naivni Divadlo Theatre - Liberec, Czechoslovakia
A gold medal to the performance Cosse Bosse's Song by Rada Moskova
State Puppet Theatre, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance Puck by Valeri Petrov
1981
Skazka Puppet Theatre, Leningrad, USSR
A gold medal to the performance Where Are You Going, Little Horse by Rada Moskova
State Puppet Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance Booboo by Dimitar Tochev.
State Puppet Theatre, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
A gold medal to the performance The Egg by Boris Aprilov
Sofia Puppet Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria
A gold medal to the performance Ragazza by Stanislav Stratiev
1978
Czwerc Puppet Theatre - Białystok, Poland
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performance The Six Little Penguins by Boris Aprilov
H.K.Andersen Puppet Theatre, Lublin, Poland
A gold medal to the performance Where Are You Going, Little Horse by Rada Moskova
State Puppet Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria
The Golden Dolphin greatest award to the performances Rumeto and the Old Lion by Ivan Ostrikov and The Happiest Man by Maxim Asenov
State Puppet Theatre, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
A gold medal to the performance Cosse Bosse by Rada Moskova
1975
Bolshoy Theatre Kukol, Leningrad, USSR
A gold medal to the performance Wolf and Kids by Nedyalko Yordanov
State Puppet Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria
A gold medal to the performances The Golden Bird and Your Little Star.
1972
Czwerc Puppet Theatre - Białystok, Poland
A gold medal to the performance The Merry Roosters by Atanas Mochurov
State Puppet Theatre, Varna, Bulgaria
A gold medal to the performance Maximka by Yordan Todorov
Sincerest words:
Viktor Sudarushkin: "I wish the good principle of the Golden Dolphin were maintained fresh. Everybody must help to the success of this interesting affair". (1978)
Valeri Petrov: "Success to The Golden Dolphin and to the intelligent, interesting and talented people that take a meeting here in the name, first of all, of children's happiness." (1978)
Dr. Henrych Jurkowski: "The Golden Dolphin Festival is a unique phenomenon! There is nothing else like this all over the world. That does credit to the city of Varna and the Puppet Theatre of Varna that this idea was born just here."
Yana Tsankova: "The Golden Dolphin concurred with my creative development and played a huge role to the way I grew up as a director. It is wonderful that The Golden Dolphin directed me to staging Bulgarian plays mostly - this became my desire, my habit." (1984)
Jivomir Iokovic: "We are first of all competing rivals at the other international forums like this while here, we are participants and active actors in a school that enable exchange of ideas, laying plans, making clear the view ahead, to the development of the puppet art." (1984)
Gustave Guisine: "I came to Varna to view a miracle - The Golden Dolphin is a true miracle at this time!" (1990)
Professor Nikolina Georgieva: "Thanks to The Golden Dolphin, Bulgarian dramaturgy was fast in taking a notable place in the repertoire of then state puppet theatres. Every next edition gave its contribution not only to increasing the number of plays by Bulgarian authors but also to attracting writers of a higher class. Not smaller is its contribution to the distribution and the realization of the best of our dramaturgy over the other countries. It is not by occasion that Henrych Jurkowski said that Bulgarian dramaturgy is a synonym of high quality. At present, The Golden Dolphin is the oldest and the most prestigious international puppet festival in Bulgaria, it is a universally recognized authority both among Bulgarian and foreign puppeteers." (2005)
Professor Atanas Ilkov: "A forum at this level contributes to the development of the original puppet theatre dramaturgy and brings new media into the puppet theatre scope, gives it an aesthetical and thematic propulsion. It is also very important that "fertilization" takes place here with ideas of possible future realizations in all spheres of our art." (2005)
Architect Ivan Tsonev: "The importance of The Golden Dolphin is big to everybody having a relation to the puppet theatre in Bulgaria. It is doubtlessly useful for the creators' professional development. In my opinion, this festival is of the highest value among all presently existing festivals in Bulgaria because it is the most professional, large-scaled and authoritative." (2005)