Festival Program
Sofia, 11-13 September 2026. The programme is coming.
Detailed programme coming soon. Three days of music, talks, tastings and micro events.
Coming soon
We will publish the full programme here as soon as it is ready.
Coffee Culture Map · 70+ venues
The festival network
Cafés, roasters, specialty shops and taste destinations across Sofia. The partner network of Good Coffee Festival.
Urban Embassy Specialty Coffee
CaféStory Cups
CaféCadu
CaféFlavouRITs
CaféSavi Gelato
CaféЧай във фабриката
CaféMartines
CaféBrewing Dealers
CaféBlue Bag Specialty Coffee
CaféFlow Cacao Roasters
CaféSpojka
Cafékafeto.bg
CaféAroma Coffee
Café100%Caffeine
CaféKofi Ti
Café718 Breakfast & Brunch
CaféБар Самар
Food & drinksCaruso pizza
Food & drinksTuscani cioccolato
ChocolateBePure
Artisan spaceХранкооп маг
Farmers marketVenue Profiles
The profiles behind the taste
Who stands behind the cup, who selects the bean, who guards the craft. Deep editorial portraits of the venues in the Good Coffee Festival network. The people, the philosophy and the craft.
"Cups Like That I Throw Away": Kristiyan of Little's
☕ "Cups like that I throw away." Kristiyan of Little's on the standard that gets applied behind the bar rather than at the table. 📖 In front of a wall of twenty flavours, every order is a portrait. And the question he would put to the farmer is not about taste. Read the full conversation on Slow Made City! 👉 [link to article]
"Slow" Is Not a Word They Know: Nikolay Dimitrov of Barista Expert
☕ "We simply do not know the word slow." A sentence that runs against the name of this publication - and Nikolay Dimitrov of Barista Expert explains why it holds. 📖 On the eyes that arrive before the order, on the cup that does not leave the bar at the smallest doubt, and on recipes nobody keeps secret. Read the full conversation on Slow Made City! 👉 [link to article]
"I Don't Really Drink Coffee": Viktor of Cadu Barista Essentials
🥛 "I don't really drink coffee, I drink hot water." Viktor of Cadu Barista Essentials, the man who supplies bars and starts the day without coffee. 📖 On milk as the second ingredient behind the bar, on matcha as the only choice, and on the phone call that is never good news. Read the full conversation on Slow Made City! 👉 [link to article]
Every Roast Feels Like a Parachute Jump: Jasmina Yankova of Jasmin Specialty Coffee Roastery
☕️ What is the moment that makes a roaster feel like she is about to jump with a parachute? Jasmina Yankova of Jasmin Specialty Coffee Roastery finds it at around 160 degrees in the drum. 📖 On the blend she will not give away, on the 27 seconds that are not a rule, and on why a bad person cannot make good coffee. Read the full conversation ahead of Good Coffee Festival on Slow Made City! 👉 [link to article]
She Knows the Customer by Their Footsteps: Preslava Velkova of If you chocolate
🍫 The first diamond If you chocolate ever made has rachel preserve inside it, from a grandmother's recipe. Preslava Velkova explains the shape and the filling. 📖 On the customer you recognise by their footsteps, on the cappuccino she refused to serve, and on "fast" as something that does not exist yet. Read the full conversation ahead of Good Coffee Festival on Slow Made City! 👉 [link to article]
We Are Not Clairvoyants: Dimitar Petrovski of Ritual Coffee and Cocktails
☕️ Which aroma would a barista keep forever, and why does the answer have nothing to do with coffee? Dimitar Petrovski of Ritual Coffee and Cocktails answers the question about the morning's first sip with the name of his own bar. 📖 On the neighbourhood that has to know you, on recipes that are not secrets, and on why "we are not clairvoyants" is a working position rather than a joke. Read the full conversation ahead of Good Coffee Festival on Slow Made City! 👉 [link to article]
Every Cup Tells a Story: Ivan Spasov of Story
☕ A coffee shop called Story with the motto "Every cup tells a story" reads like a closed loop. In Ivan Spasov's answers the story turns out to belong to someone else. 📖 On the farmer he would rather listen to, on teaching yourself out of curiosity, and on why explaining good coffee is harder than making it. Read the full conversation ahead of Good Coffee Festival on Slow Made City! 👉 [link to article]
Cleanliness Is the First Lesson: Nikolay Kostadinov of Better Specialty Coffee
☕ What is the single most important thing a barista learns about coffee? Nikolay Kostadinov of Better Specialty Coffee answers with a word that appears on no menu. 📖 Cleanliness behind a bar is not decoration, it is taste: yesterday's flavour goes into every cup that follows. Read the full conversation ahead of Good Coffee Festival on Slow Made City! 👉 [link to article]
The Coffee Repeats, the Person Never Does: Alexandra Fileva of Urban Embassy
☕️ What do you learn about people after five years of making them coffee every day? Alexandra Fileva of Urban Embassy answers with one sentence that arranges everything else. 📖 The bean sets the ceiling; the person at the machine owns the distance down to the cup. And "bad coffee" turns out to be a definition that never mentions taste. Read the full conversation ahead of Good Coffee Festival on Slow Made City! 👉 [link to article]
The One Word Banned Behind the Bar: Anton Krinchev of Flow Cacao Roasters
🍫 Which single word is banned behind the bar of a cacao roastery? Anton Krinchev of Flow Cacao Roasters gives an answer that arranges everything else. 📖 Espresso teaches speed, cacao teaches patience - and the work is finished long before the bean reaches the machine. Read the full conversation ahead of Good Coffee Festival on Slow Made City! 👉 [link to article]
What the Paper Cup Takes: Alexander Skrinjaric of Martines
☕️ Ever wondered what truly makes a coffee experience unforgettable? Dive into our latest article featuring Alexander Skrinjaric from Martines, where he reveals the hidden costs of the paper cup! 📜 Don't miss out on this insightful conversation ahead of the Good Coffee Festival in Sofia. Spoiler alert: it’s more than just about the brew! Explore how a Slow Made City approach can transform your coffee ritual. Click to read the full article now!
Some Drinks Never Leave the Bar: Story Cups in Yavorov
☕️ Ever wondered what happens to drinks that never leave the bar? Dive into the hidden stories behind Yavorov's beloved Story Cups! 👉 Read the full article to uncover the secrets of this Slow Made City gem. Spoiler alert: not all drinks make the cut, and the reasons are as fascinating as the coffee itself! Don't miss out-click to discover what makes Story Cups a must-visit! 🌟
Reading the Land: What Coffee Origin Actually Means
That farm name on your coffee bag? It represents GPS coordinates, harvest records, and skilled labour you'll never see. Here's what origin actually means, and why it matters.
The Barista Who Knows the Farmer's Name
In Sofia, Blue Bag Coffee Europe roasts in small batches on a Probat, where Head Barista Francisco Lopez follows every bean from farm to cup. When the barista knows the farmer's name, coffee becomes a record of decisions.
Georgi Gagov and the Quiet Work of Roasting Well
Somewhere in Sofia, a roaster drum turns at 7:30 in the morning. Georgi Gagov has been listening to this sound for 27 years, building Aroma Coffee into proof that consistency and craft outlast trends. This is the quiet work of roasting well.
Festival Stories
Stories behind the festival
The people who make Good Coffee Festival (baristas, roasters, chocolatiers, visiting speakers). Short portraits by Slow Made City.
The Trader Who Reads Bulgaria by What It Orders
Ivan Mangalski doesn't roast or brew, he trades. And from that vantage point, he reads Bulgaria's coffee culture through every order that crosses his desk.
Could Sofia's Baristas Design Their Own Competition Brewers?
Sofia's baristas compete with V60s and Kalitas, but what if they designed their own brewers? From Jakarta's Binocular Dripper to the Solo Dripper that won Worlds, custom equipment is reshaping competition coffee.
Taste Journey · Coffee and cacao
The journey of the bean
How a green coffee bean becomes an espresso and how cacao becomes a chocolate bar. We follow the taste step by step: harvest, roasting, brewing.
The Moment Coffee Meets Chocolate
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe meets Ecuadorian dark chocolate, and suddenly neither tastes the same. This is not alchemy, it is attention. Here is how to start pairing.
Eight Chocolates, Eight Origins: What a Tasting Teaches You About Cacao
The snap comes first, then the aroma rises, something fruity, almost tart. This is what single-origin chocolate does: it reveals that cacao carries the signature of where it grew.
Two Seeds, One Latitude: A Guide to Pairing Coffee and Chocolate
The aroma hits before the taste does. Coffee and chocolate share more than flavour, they share latitude, fermentation, and roasting. Here's how to bring them together with intention.
New content every week in the days around the festival
Global Scene
The coffee scene beyond Sofia
Melbourne, London, Copenhagen: what coffee festivals look like in cities with a long tradition in the craft, and what from their experience could work in Sofia too.
One Night, One Room, Every Maker in the Country
Zürich's Culinary Grand Tour Market puts conversation before tasting, producers before products. Sofia has the makers and the stories, what it lacks is the deliberate curation that transforms artisans into a coherent cultural statement.
Fifteen Years of Crowds, and the Coffee Still Tastes Right
The London Coffee Festival has quadrupled in size since 2011, drawing 22,000+ visitors to Shoreditch's Truman Brewery. But can a coffee festival grow without losing the craft that made it worth attending? London's fifteen-year experiment offers lessons for any city building specialty coffee culture.
What Melbourne's Coffee Infrastructure Reveals About Building a Specialty Scene
Melbourne's coffee expo draws 31,000 attendees and reveals the institutional scaffolding behind a mature specialty scene. For Sofia's emerging coffee community, the question isn't about replicating scale-it's about building intentional structures while preserving intimacy.
About the festival
Good Coffee Festival is a cultural platform that turns coffee into an experience.
Coffee here is a ritual, a meeting and a city rhythm. A way to live the city and share stories. We gather communities, creators, makers and brands into one shared aesthetic: urban, artistic, human, positive.
2026
70+ participants from Bulgaria and abroad
Media partner: Slow Made City
11-13 September 2026
NDK, Sofia
Festival Loop
Starting soonScan. Discover.
Win something for the festival.
Walk the Good Coffee Festival network, scan a QR code in each participating venue and collect points. Festival Loop will guide you through the city in the days before and during the festival.
Sign up, scan and win prizes from Good Coffee Festival and partners. Coming soon. Follow Slow Made City for launch.
How it works
Two paths to points. Pick one or both.
Read online
📚 Read an article → +1 point
🔁 Different articles = more points
Every Good Coffee Festival residency article gives 1 point. QR points launch soon. Start with reading.
Log in and start→Visit a place
📍 Scan a QR at the festival → +1 point
💬 Same place = 1 point/day
📸 Share on Instagram → +3 points
Post a shot from a festival venue, add #GoodCoffeeFestival and tag @slowmadecity as a collaborator.
#GoodCoffeeFlow · UGC
Share a moment from the festival
Your shots from Good Coffee Festival, from an espresso cup to the stage. Upload a photo, tag us and become part of the festival story.
The first shots are coming soon
Share your moment from Good Coffee Festival and kick off the feed.
Share a photo→Slow Made City partner
Be part of Good Coffee Festival '26
11-13 September 2026, NDK, Sofia.