Vidin’s Puppet Theatre was founded in 1975. It was financed by the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Bulgaria. The theater has its own group of actors which is composed of ten actors, and a technical and administrative crew. It has a hall of 150 seats. Some of the most important events are handwritten, the annals of the theater. The beginning of the Puppet Theatre in Vidin is related to the joint initiative, in 1965-1966, of several artists from the drama department of the theater, a small puppet troop, which anticipated the necessity for this. One of the first titles of this composition is “Scarlet Flower” upon grounds of Russian folk tales. Later, at the local community center “Color” is developed a stock puppets for amateurs. On October 13th, 1975, during a call for puppeteers actors takes place a committee with representatives of the National Theatre Academy, the leadership of the community center and former Council for Arts and Culture.The initiative begins to function as a puppet theater with encouragement from the community center. Next year, a very important one in the history of theater, namely 1980, is the year when the theatre becomes already a building with 180-200 seats, which started to operate in the place of the old burned cinema. This period is strong for the actors development and enrichment of culture – with several directors, working with different types of puppets, scenery and the building goes through a process of amending the general depth for the specifics of the game inside the puppet theater.
A key date in promoting the puppet theater as a separate institution is its nationalization, on April 30, 1981 and this event is already a fact and takes theater on the path of creative development.
The puppet theatre in Vidin was in search for distinctive productions from its beginnings. In this long journey of self-creation and survival, has sought to preserve its distinctive and authentic character – that thing that makes a theater to be recognized, among others. Vidin’s theater continues to build the space where to look for new means of expression and development of theatrical language. The struggles for genres and stylistic diversity in its products leads to encounters with interesting artists, after a break of prejudices about the occurrence of the “provincial” theater. Vidin’s Puppet Theatre seeks to enrich the culture of the intrested audience, which is the main mission of the theater, for young and old people.
Annually are presented five new productions and theater from Vidin keeps about 15 titles. During the year are played about 300 shows in the city and in the region, as well as on appropriate scenes at home and abroad.
Vidin’s Puppet Theatre participated in numerous national and international theater forums and has won numerous prestigious awards.
The theater has successful tours in Germany, Austria, Serbia, Albania, Mongolia, Croatia, Romania, Hungary, Belgium, Russia.