For the fifth consecutive year, the Academia Orphica is creating an interactive space where visitors can immerse themselves in the culture and art of ancient Thrace. This summer, the Thracian Mysteries Festival once again transports us to iconic sites from the history of these lands.

‘Reanimation’ — this word, used by festival director Plamen Ivanov, captures the essence of the art that recreates ancient events in its own language, breathing new life into the ruins, the only remaining witnesses of time.

‘We want to present the deep roots of this unique heritage to our contemporaries in the most beautiful way possible — through a live experience,’ Plamen Ivanov told Radio Bulgaria. ‘Everyone present becomes a witness to something that cannot be put into words. In the natural setting of the ruins, mysteries unfold, creating a shared experience that transcends language and reveals what connects us and makes us Bulgarian. We’ve prepared a rich programme.’

The second event in the festival programme, the interactive performance Mysteria Sintica, will take place on 26 July in the square with the colonnade of the central portico in the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica.

‘In this experience, accompanied by original music, dramatic storytelling, choreography and costumes, the priestesses of the celestial queen and her statue will lead a procession that will draw us all into the mystery of the Sintians,’ said Ivanov. ‘This reconstruction of ancient rituals, with chants in the ancient Thracian language, is being realised with the support of the Historical Museum in Petrich.’

The festival director also hinted at a special event on 9 August — an evening under the stars in the village of Starosel near Plovdiv, a site once home to Thracian tribes and now preserving the remains of their monuments, tombs and temples.

The next event will take audiences to the Magura Cave near Belogradchik.

‘On 16 August, we will present the landmark interactive performance The Resurrection of Eurydice,’ Plamen Ivanov continues. ‘Now in its third year, our aim is to deepen and expand the production so that the audience can fully immerse themselves in this ancient heritage and the power of love. According to Thracian epic tradition, it is Orpheus who resurrects Eurydice, unlike in the Greek myth.’

On 30 August, the next interactive event, The Cabirian Mystery (inspired by the secret rites of the ancient Cabiri deities), will be staged inside the ancient domed tomb known as The Hollow Mound in Pomorie.

‘The festival traditionally concludes in Plovdiv — at the ancient Roman Stadium in the city centre,’ Ivanov adds. ‘On 11 October, we open with the exhibition Thracian Mysteries by Dilyana Angelova, whose paintings are rich in symbolism. This will be followed by a lecture series (on ‘Ancient Thracian Culture, Language and Civilisation, and the Application of Thracian Cultural Heritage in the Present Day’ — Ed.) delivered by researchers from the Institute of Transcendent Science, as well as Thracian-themed workshops.’

But do these events bring us closer to historical fact — or are they more of a whisper, a call to open the encyclopaedias and search for the real stories, figures and eras that shaped this ancient world?

‘We work with the tools of art,’ says Plamen Ivanov. ‘We combine elements familiar from museums, sacred history, and Thracian epic — a scattered puzzle we strive to piece together and present as a unified, living space. We believe in interpretation because ours are grounded in thorough research. You know there’s always a battle over our past, but what we express through art rises above such contradictions — the experience itself answers many questions.’