Bulgacon 2025 Programme

50th Anniversary of the Club for Science-Fiction, Heuristics and Futurology “Arkady and Boris Strugatsky” at the Youth Center – Pazardzhik
slogan “Bulgaria on Three Planets”

September 6–8, Pazardzhik

September 6, 2025 (Saturday)

Hall 1 “Stage” (Venus)

13:00–13:30 Registration

13:30–13:50 Bulgacon 2025 Opening Ceremony

13:50–14:30 CSFHF “Arkady and Boris Strugatsky” – Past, Present, And Future

15:00–16:00 [EN] Utopias, Dystopias, and Everything In Between – Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jorо Penchev, Claudia Rapp

16:00–17:00 Writer vs. Comics Script – Andrey Androv, Giuliano Dimitrov

17:00–18:00 Fantastic Poetry – Kiril Vlahov, Marishka Mitova-Kulenska

18:00–19:00 Bulgarian SF&F Artists – Kalin Nikolov 

19:00–21:00 Quiz “Robots, Cyborgs, Androids” – Iskren Zairyanov, Trayana Zairyanova, Nikolay Krumov

Hall 2 “Ustrem” (Mars)

15:00–16:00 [BG/EN] Presentation of SF Anthologies: Italian, German, and Solarpunk – Erik Simon, Iliya Valov, Francesco Verso 

16:00–17:00 [EN] Solarpunk (Open Discussion) – Francesco Verso, Dimitar Raykov, Drake Vato, Iliya Valov, Nikolay Todorov

17:00–18:00 The Strange Chinese Fiction – Stefan Rusinov

18:00–19:00 [EN] AI in Art and Why It Doesn’t Belong There – Neil Clarke

Hall 3 “Choral” (Earth)

15:00–16:00 Book presentations: Ninja: Way of the Tiger, Book 0 by David Walters – Radoslav Hristoskov, Nedelcho Hristoskov; Adventures for Flying, Crawling and Reading by Denitsa Kyuchukova

16:00–17:00 Book presentations: Blast (An Erotic Novella in the World of Fallout) by Snezhana Tasheva; The Wings (anthology by the Burgas SF&F Club)

17:00–18:00 Book presentations: Terra Fantastica Magazine – Yuri Ilkov, Dilyan Blagov; The Dragon of Morna by Elena Pavlova

18:00–19:00 Book presentations: Kathryn Di (Eurocon 2025 Debut Award) and Nikolay Peev (Eurocon 2022 Nomination)

Foyer

14:30–14:40 Opening of the Children’s Drawing Exhibition “The Bright Future We All Dream Of”

14:40–14:50 Award Ceremony for the Children’s Drawing Competition “The Bright Future We All Dream Of”

14:50–15:00 Opening of the Photo Exhibition “Art and AI” – Vi Art Foundation

15:00–15:10 Opening of the Exhibition “Bulgarian SF&F Artists” – Kalin Nikolov

September 7, 2025 (Sunday)

13:00–14:00 Lunch Break (for all halls)

Hall 1 “Stage” (Venus)

11:00–13:00 Movie screening - The Wandering Earth based on the novel by Liu Cixin (Premiere for Bulgaria)

15:00–16:00 Science Fiction and the Ethics of Science – Valentin D. Ivanov

17:45–18:00 Imagination Does Not Threaten but Enriches – Orlin Dvoryanov

18:00–18:30 Performance “Antiperformance” – Anna Drenska, Veronika Prezhdarova

Hall 2 “Ustrem” (Mars)

10:00–10:10 Opening of the Second Day and Registration

10:10–11:00 [EN] Worldcons, Eurocons, Metropolcon... and a treat of cake – Elena Pavlova, Jorо Penchev, Claudia Rapp

11:00–12:00 [EN] Deep-Tech Threats and Solutions at the Intersection of Practice, Science, and Science Fiction – Francesco Verso, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jorо Penchev – moderator Dr. Hristiyan Daskalov (Chairman of EDIH “Trakia”)

12:00–13:00 [EN] Q&A – Adrian Tchaikovsky

14:00–15:00 [EN] The Ethical Aspect of Artificial Intelligence in Science Fiction – Francesco Verso

15:00–16:00 [EN] Overview of Speculative Fiction Magazines in the USA – Neil Clarke

16:00–17:00 [EN] The Development of Chinese Science Fiction Through the Eyes of a Witness – Li Jun (Baoshu) 

17:00–18:00 [EN] Bringing the Rich Culture of “Small Languages” into Publishing – Neil Clarke, Francesco Verso, Haralambi Markov, Nikolay Peev - Moderator

Hall 3 “Choral” (Earth)

10:00–11:00 The Negative Horizon in Steampunk – Nikolay Todorov

11:00–12:00 Book presentation: Science Fiction, Mythology and Religion by Svilen Ognyanov 

14:00–15:00 Foundation and Dune – Science Fiction or Lightly Disguised Description of Reality? – Tervel Peykov

15:00–16:00 The Future of Holistic Medicine – Alexander Boyadzhiev

16:00–17:00 The Future of Art in the AI Era – Valentin D. Ivanov, Elena Pavlova, Nikolay Peev, and others

17:00-17:30 Аnnouncing the Results of the Short Story Competition

17:30-18:00 Book Presentation: Future Impossible by Dimitar Mitev

Hall 4 “Apostol Sotirov”

10:30–13:00 III National Scientific Conference “Past, Present, and Future of Science Fiction” (with the participation of: CSFHF “A. & B. Strugatsky”, ICFHF “I. Efremov”, BAS, “Art in Action” Association, European Southern Observatory, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University)

14:00–16:00 Public Lectures: Conference on Digital Communications

(with the participation of: CSFHF “A. & B. Strugatsky”, EDIH “Trakia”, “Re” Foundation, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, “Paisii Hilendarski” University of Plovdiv, “Institute for Informal Innovations” Foundation, “Association of Young Scientists” Association)

16:00–18:00 Demonstration Day: Response to AI Cyber Incident Scenarios

Foyer

12:00–16:00 EDIH “Trakia” – Consultations: Grant and Investment Funding – Cyberzone

18:30–20:00 Cocktail

September 8, 2025 (Monday)

Hall 1 “Stage” (Venus)

10:00–11:00 [EN] Science Fiction Short Story Writing Workshop – Francesco Verso

11:00–12:00 [EN] How to Publish Abroad: Practical Advice – Elena Pavlova, Francesco Verso, Neil Clarke

12:30–13:15 Book Auction

13:15 Closing of Bulgacon 2025 Closing Ceremony

Hall 2 “Ustrem” (Mars)

11:00–12:00 [EN] Q&A – Li Jun (Baoshu)

12:00–12:45 Book Presentation: Sunbreakers by Vida Delcheva and Open Discussion on the Wave of Ethno-Fantasy

Hall 3 “Choral” (Earth)

10:00-10:30 Audio-Book presentation: Without a shore by Dimitrina Sabcheva

10:30-11:00 [EN] Book presentation: Casual by Koji A. Dae

11:00-11:30 Book presentation: The mouse of Chaos by Krasimir Zelenogorov

End of the Official Program