November with EPAYGO: stories that never get old
From Kinomania's 40th edition to AHAT's anniversary tour: two legends with plenty of story left to tell.
November has a knack for bringing us back to stories worth experiencing all over again.
Sometimes that means a dark cinema, where someone else's world becomes ours for a couple of hours. Sometimes it's a spot in front of a stage, where the opening chords of a familiar song take us back decades. This month, EPAYGO points us in two directions that meet somewhere along the timeline. Kinomania is celebrating its 40th edition, while AHAT are marking four decades of rock with a national tour. Two stories that began in the 1980s, when the world looked very different. And two reminders that the really good stuff doesn't stay locked in the past. It keeps happening, finding new audiences and still knowing how to shake us up.
Kinomania 2026: 40 editions of life on the big screen
Some festivals follow history. Others get there a little ahead of it. Kinomania belongs firmly in the second camp. Back in 1987, when it launched as World Cinema Panorama, it began opening cracks in the barriers between Bulgarian audiences and world cinema, two years before the Berlin Wall came down.
From 12 to 29 November, the long-running film event celebrates its 40th edition with a special programme,
musical highlights and a new documentary about its own history. Announced titles include Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine, Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur, Alexandre Castagnetti's French take on The Phantom of the Opera, Cristian Mungiu's Fjord, and the Bulgarian film Cherni pari za beli noshti (Black Money for White Nights) by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov. A new strand, Mladite govoryat (The Young Speak), gives the next generation of Bulgarian filmmakers the floor. Forty editions might be enough to build a history, but they're no reason to stop looking for the next great story. We're taking our seats in the dark again, ready for someone to rearrange our world in two hours.
40 years of AHAT: rock doesn't have an age limit
It's 1986, and the Bulgarian rock scene is ready for something louder and less willing to compromise. AHAT arrive, and the amps never quite sound the same again. Four decades later, the band still carry a sound that refuses to belong to just one generation. Their anniversary tour kicked off in Gabrovo on 7 November. Its route takes in Pleven, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Varna, Ruse, Yambol and Sofia, before reaching London and Veliko Tarnovo in December. On stage are Zvezdi Keremidchiev, Denis Rizov, Antoniy Georgiev, known as Tonto, Kamen Grahovski and Alex Lazarov.
The set includes defining tracks from Pohodat,
alongside favourites from across the band's discography. The songs that once came out of cassette players now live in our playlists. But some music refuses to settle for being a recording. It wants a stage and hundreds of voices joining in at once. After 40 years, some bands lean on nostalgia. Others just plug in their guitars and remind us why we never stopped listening.
November clearly has a soft spot for stories that last
One night, you're sitting in the dark, waiting for the first frame. Another, you're standing in front of a stage, waiting for the first chord. Cinema and rock have more in common than you might think. Both can take you back or show you something entirely new. And when they still have something to say after 40 years, the best part is knowing the story isn't over. Your ticket to the next chapter is waiting at EPAYGO.
What to do in Sofia: 9–15 November
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