Entertainment in Plovdiv
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King’s Stables Café
This summer-only outdoor café has two parts: a lower area beside the restaurant, with live music stage, and a funky upper bar (the ‘second stage’), offering a short list of well-made cocktails. A DJ here spins chilled-out tracks, sometimes accompanied by wafting, pungent incense.
reviewed
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Escada
The smooth modern look of this café/bar/restaurant with striped couches, a long bar and canopied outdoor seating is reminiscent of the smart Grecian cafés of Thessaloniki. It’s good for a light lunch and has an upstairs nightclub. It’s 2km west of the train station.
reviewed
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B
Naylona
They say that the owners of this Kapana dive bar purposefully didn’t fix the roof, so that the rain would trickle in; whatever the story, this damp, bare-bones place usually playing classic (and other) rock remains the unwashed, long-haired antithesis of Plovdiv style.
reviewed
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C
Caligula
Plovdiv’s only gay club is, Bulgarian men only half-jokingly say, a nice place to meet girls. Whatever the case, the mixed crowd comes not only for the greased-up male pole dancers, but for the live music, DJs and neighbouring facilities (the Sky Bar is in the same complex).
reviewed
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D
Art Bar Maria Luisa
Too pretty to be just a dive bar, the Maria Luisa has dedicated owners who keep adapting the décor to suit their whims. The colourful downstairs is particularly stylish, vaguely reminiscent of 1920’s Paris. This little place has a dedicated local following.
reviewed
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E
Plazma Light
A very, very chic new bar with a nightclub behind, Plazma Light is one of the prime places to chill out to house music, with detached, island-like bars set in a sea of cream-and-black décor. Shiny screens and shiny people complete the mesmerizing effect.
reviewed
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F
Marmalad
This two-floor place is one of Kapana’s best for live music. The upper floor is a bar, and the lower one a club where nationally known rock bands perform on Thursday. Tuesday features a piano bar, karaoke’s on Wednesday, and DJs play on weekends.
reviewed
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G
Makalali
While the African tribal theme is somewhat less obvious than the owners might think, Makalali is still a good, and often busy place, with a big cocktail menu, cool lighting and Fashion TV aspirations to go with its ambient house music.
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H
Remix Music Club
This very chic new place is a chill spot for a daytime coffee, but gets loud at night when the beautiful people show up. It’s full of colour and plasma screens, and smooth seats from some postmodern hair salon.
reviewed
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Planet Club
Don’t be put off by the black windows on the big black Jeeps out front; the Planet is not really a Mafia bar, just a slick, fashionable place with an ultramodern interior and occasional wild excess.
reviewed
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J
Palmite
Translated as ‘the Palms’, this pumping chalga club shares its entrance with a fitness club and features male strippers (Thursday) and student nights (Sunday).
reviewed
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Nai Club
Bulgarian folk-pop blares out at this popular club; notably, there are frequent live performances, if you’ve been yearning to see the starlets of chalga in the flesh.
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L
Enjoy Club 69
This scantily clad chalga club somehow combines brick-wall décor and plasma video screens, attracting students and wanna-be mafiosi as well.
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Sky Bar
You can’t beat the Sky Bar, located atop one of Plovdiv’s tallest buildings, for panoramic evening or night-time views in the company of a cold drink.
reviewed
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N
Paparazi
Plovdiv’s longest-running nightclub, Paparazi has three big halls for DJ-driven house music, chalga (Bulgarian pop music) and hip-hop.
reviewed
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O
Fashion Café
In the shopping centre west of Dzhumaya Mosque, this popular place offers mixed musical styles and is popular with students, especially by night.
reviewed
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P
Gepi
Live salsa, jazz, hip-hop and rock concerts happen at this slightly underground place with a bright, visually arresting lamp-lit interior.
reviewed
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Q
Nikolai Masalitinov Dramatic Theatre
One of Bulgaria’s top theatres, it features anything from Shakespeare to Ibsen (most performances are in Bulgarian).
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Petnoto
The pinstriped Petnoto combines a bar, small restaurant and a music stage where Bulgarian bands and DJs perform.
reviewed
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S
Flamingo Cinema
See recent foreign films in original languages (with Bulgarian subtitles) at Flamingo Cinema
reviewed
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Faces Cinema
See recent foreign films in original languages (with Bulgarian subtitles) at Faces Cinema .
reviewed
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Luki Cinema
See recent foreign films in original languages (with Bulgarian subtitles) at Luki Cinema .
reviewed
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U
Simfoniya
At the western end of the park, Simfoniya is a busy bar-café with drinks (and cakes).
reviewed
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Plovdiv Opera House
Classic and modern European operas are performed in Bulgarian at this venerable hall.
reviewed
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Open-Air Theatre
This theatre has summertime traditional music and dance performances.
reviewed
