Children are the show most devoted and faithful audience whom dolphins regard with a particular attention. Festa Dolphinarium does not forget those of them whom the fortune and destiny has injured, and though the maintenance of the Dolphinarium is worth lots of funds, all those children are always welcomed at no charge, and regarded with a special attention.
While waiting for the performance to begin visitors may watch the dolphins play in the small display pool through the café window-glass

Dolphinarium is a unique attraction facility, lying amidst a green landscape in the northern part of the Sea Garden in Varna, allowing a magnificent view to the sea.
It was opened on 11 August 1984, and since then it has been one of the symbols of Varna and tourism in Bulgaria. Dolphinarium is a favorite spot in the sightseeing program of all tourists visiting the Black Sea.

The building strikes with its futuristic design and face of both aluminum and glass. It is been designed by a team under the direction of the well-known architect Simeon Saraliev (1948 - 2008), and was opened for the public on 19 August 1984. The building itself is designed as a lightweight three-dimensional structure in the form of a glass cube 30x30 meters and 14 meter height. It has three amphitheatric viewing stands seating 1200 people. Below the visitors hall is located the installation level housing the proportioning equipment and filtration systems, pumps and other facilities, as well as the air ventilation unit. An interesting detail is that the excavation works for the installation level were performed after the support roof structure had been assembled.

During the last four years over 1 million euro has been invested in the Dolphinarium for new and modern systems for keeping the optimum life regimen, and for the entire air conditioning of the hall.
Another original facility is the café occupying the eastern part of the Dolphinarium. In its closed hall there are 70 seats, with special windows overlooking the pool, which allow underwater viewing of the dolphins. The café also have a summer terrace allowing a panoramic view of the entire Varna gulf.

The pool is just like the so called “American standard” for keeping marine mammals. As the first Dolphinarims were built in the USA, this has turned into a standard for the whole world. The pool is 15 x 12 meters, and 6 meters deep. Another smaller pool of 3 meters depth is connected thereto. The water is drawn at 180-200 meters far out to the sea, and reaches the Dolphinarium through its own pipeline and pump station. The water circulates continuously in a closed circle through a system of filters and proportioners, whereat the disinfection, filtration and maintenance of the other characteristics are automatically controlled. The water mass capacity is 1200 cubic meters.

Dolphins (Delphinidae) are marine mammals closely related to whales. The name dolphin is originally from the Ancient Greek δελφίς, meaning with a womb, i.e. they are not fish, but mammals, whose independent development began about 10 million years ago. There are 36 species of dolphins, found mostly in oceans, but there are some found in fresh waters.

The first dolphins arrived in Varna in 1984 from a Cuban Dolphinarium. They are of the genus Tursiops truncatus (bottlenose dolphins), coming from the Guatemala waters. The first trainer of the dolphins in Varna was Peter Bozeneker. It has been always considered that births of dolphins in an artificial environment are rare. Due to the excellent conditions and professional cares the Festa Dolphinarium team renders, births here are normal.

At present there are 6 dolphins - 2 male and 4 female - Kimbo, Doli, Popi, Yoana and Bimbo; 3 of them were born in Festa Dolphinarium.

Dolphins “work” six days a week, Monday being their relaxation day. This schedule has never been changed, even at top high-ranking visits in the Dolphinarium. The daily rations of food are given 5 to 6 times a day. It includes 8 to 10 kg perch-pike, sprat, hake and calamari, and the dolphins’ favorite delicacy - the herring. Trainings cover elements of the performance that need to be improved, and confirmation of elements already known, as well as learning new features. While waiting for the beginning of the performance visitors watch the dolphins play in the small 3-meter pool through the panoramic glass of the café.

"Dolphins are such amusement; and intellectually so close to us rather than to animals. They get in touch both with the audience and their trainers. They enjoy the applauses in the hall, and take them just like people do. In most Dolphinariums around the world dolphins are of the genus the specialists call “Atlantic bottlenoses”, their home being the Caribbean Sea. There are dolphins in the Black Sea as well, but they are placed under protection, and it is forbidden to use them for entertainment purposes. All of us from Festa Dolphinarium are engaged in the protection of the Black Sea dolphins. It is our commitment that teams of Festa Dolphinarium treat and cure, and send at their own expenses all afflicted marine mammals back to sea. The last such case was not long ago, a wounded dolphin having come out on the seashore near Balchik”- tells us Mr. Vasilev, a Manager in Festa Holding, and adds:

We work with an experienced team. A specialist biologist and veterinary physician take care for our dolphins. They have been taking care for them for many years, know the biology of the animals, and may respond in a professional way to any situation. Anyone wishing to become a dolphin-acrobat trainer must be most of all good and understanding. Animals sense what people feel about them, and respond in the proper manner. They are just like us, with their tempers and mood, and suffer from diseases similar to ours, and that is why we care for them the way we care for men”.

„Dolphins are like my kids, I love them so much. When something happens to them I take this to heart and feel so oppressed …”, tells Iliyan, who has been working as a trainer in the Varna Dolphinarium for 15 years. He cares about the dolphins, trains them, swims in their pool, and when they are unhappy, suffers with them. He knows the character and nature of every dolphin, and half of them he has raised as babies.

„The day begins with medical examination and special feeding. We put vitamins in a specially selected fish prepared in a certain way, then we examine the appliances and devices we work with, and after that the program begins. After each program, if something has not been done the way it was supposed to be done, we practice the performance so that we could learn it and make it better”- tells Iliyan.

Festa Delfinarium
Primorski Park,
9010 Varna
Bulgaria
tel./fax: +359 52 302199
e-mail: delfin@festa.bg