Puppet Museum, Varna

Established in 1985, the Puppet Museum is honoured to be the only one of its kind in the Balkans, housing more than 130–140 theatrical puppets and set pieces crafted for productions staged between 1952 and 2002. It was conceived under the guidance of playwright Veliko Burnev, who preserved the rich archives of the State Puppet Theatre, while curator Tsvetana Vekova organized its creative display.

The collection includes early creations by Georgi Saravanov, the founder of the Puppet Theatre in Varna, along with contributions from leading stage designers such as Ivan Tsonev, Maya Petrova, Encho Avramov, and Vasil Rokomanov.

Visitors can explore puppets from beloved performances such as The Fisherman and the Goldfish, Baron von Munchausen, The Nose in the Clouds, The Happiest Man, as well as productions for adult audiences like The Queen of Spades or even Dante’s Divine Comedy. Each figure links to a distinctive visual style-rod puppets, marionettes, masks, unique mechanized puppets controlled via keyboard mechanisms.

The Puppet Museum hosts engaging activities like workshops, theater clubs, and puppet-construction art classes. During summer months, it draws international visitors intrigued by Bulgaria’s puppetry heritage. It has also taken its treasures abroad: in 1994 at the puppet festival in Spain, in 1996 at UNIMA in Budapest, and in 2005 in Subotica, Serbia.