DA Fest is an international festival, held at the National Academy of Art (NAA) in Sofia, presenting new trends and important achievements in the fields of digital arts to the Bulgarian audience – digital video, interactive performance and installation, net art, sound art, robotics and generative systems,  and other interdisciplinary forms.

The festival program includes exhibitions, performances, screenings, presentations and workshops that take place in terms of 5 days in the main building of the NAA on 1 Shipka Street, Sofia. Invited artists from around the world present contemporary artistic trends, research and technology and demonstrate important advances in the field of digital arts.

DA Fest started in 2009 with the idea to support the recently launched MA "Digital Arts" of the NAA, and to present and promote the general public important achievements and latest trends in this field.  Building a platform for dialogue and cooperation between art and education, the festival curators – Venelin Shurelov and Galina Dimitrova-Dimova, invite artists and researchers from local and international scene, while giving the chance for artistic debut of Academy students and other young artists.  

In the past five editions of the festival took part over 100 well-known artists and researchers from 20 countries around the world , among who: Andrea Paciotto (IT), Andy Graydon (Hawaii/DE), Arno Fabre (FR), Bernd Oppl (AT), Brian Knep (USA), Christian Delécluse (FR), Cleaning Women (FI), Cod.Act (CH), Derek Holzer (USA/DE), Don Foresta (USA/FR), Geumhyung Jeong (South Korea), Guillaume Baychelier (FR), Hans Tammen (USA), hexler (R J Fisher) (DE), Jan Klug (NL), Mark Coniglio (USA/DE), Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak (SI), Paolo Cirio (IT), Paul Granjon (FR/UK),  Peter William Holden (DE), Piotr Wyrzykowski (PL), post theater (DE), Reynold Reynolds (USA/DE), Tzeni Argiriou (GR), UBERMORGEN (CH/AT), Vibeke Sorensen (USA/SG), and many others. For most of these internationally recognized artists that was the first visit to Bulgaria, and the meeting with the Bulgarian audience was very inspirational. 

Bulgarian artists working in the field of digital arts also take part in the festival and have the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with their foreign colleagues. Among the festival participants are the students of the Art Academy and other young artists interested in digital arts, who take part in workshops and present their projects at the festival. 

The sixth festival edition will take place September 19-23, 2017 in various locations at the central venue of the Art Academy on 1 Shipka str. DA Fest 2017 will highlights a large scale exhibition featuring established and emerging artists, two workshops, led by renown international artists, various live performances, lectures and presentations, video screenings, and AV performances, featuring prominent names of the electronic music scene. A new hint in the festival programme is DA Lab, which will be a showcase for electronic and experimental music scene and sound art in Bulgaria. 

DA Fest team 2017

Curators: Venelin Shurelov and Galina Dimitrova-Dimova

Organisation: Galina Dimitrova-Dimova

Techinal organization: Venelin Shurelov

Coordinator participants: Zornitsa Markova

Coordinator events: Iliyana Kancheva

Website and online communication: Petya Chalakova

PR & media: Didi Spasova / NAA

Technical assistance: Borislav Tonev

Finance and accounting: Dimitrinka Rafailova / NAA

Translation: Vassil Yovchev

Web programming, live streaming and video documentation: ESOF / Streamer.BG

The festival team expresses its big gratitude to all volunteers assisting in the festival preparation and realization.