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Dara arrived at Sofia airport to cheering crowds and a Prime Minister’s congratulations as Bulgaria began celebrating its first-ever Eurovision victory and confirmed Sofia as the host city for next year’s contest.
The plane had barely landed before the chants started. Dara, born Darina Nikolaeva Yotova, touched down at Sofia airport Sunday evening to a reception that looked less like a homecoming and more like a national holiday. Fans carrying flowers, waving Bulgarian flags, and chanting her name and the title of her winning song formed the welcome party. She walked through it visibly overwhelmed.
“This victory means a great deal to me,” Dara told the crowd gathered at the arrivals hall, in a moment that quickly circulated across Bulgarian social media. For a country that had not even sent a performer to the previous three Eurovision contests, the weight of that statement was not lost on anyone present.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev took to Facebook to congratulate the 27-year-old pop musician and made the announcement many had already been anticipating: Sofia will host the 71st Eurovision Song Contest next year. Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova, posting on X, called Dara Bulgaria’s greatest young ambassador and described the win as proof that “talent, courage, and hard work” can reach any goal.
The backstory behind the victory has only made it resonate more deeply at home. Bulgaria had opted out of Eurovision for three consecutive years, joining a small group of countries that declined to participate due to Israel’s inclusion in the contest. The country returned for 2026, and on its first appearance back, won outright. The arc is almost too clean to be real.
“Bangaranga” had not been among the favorites heading into Saturday’s final. It was not on the short lists of likely winners circulating in the days before the contest, and it did not lead after the jury vote, when Australia and Malta had been sitting atop the standings. The televote changed the calculus entirely, with public audiences across dozens of countries delivering the margin of victory that the juries had withheld.
The celebrations in Sofia spread beyond the airport, with fans who had gathered in public viewing areas for the contest still filling the streets Sunday, a day removed from the win itself. The prospect of hosting Eurovision 2027 has added a second wave of excitement on top of the victory, giving Bulgarians something to organize around rather than just celebrate.
For Dara, the immediate task is processing what has happened. She returns to a country that was not certain it wanted to participate in Eurovision at all a few years ago and now finds itself planning the biggest live music broadcast in the world. That is a lot to absorb in one airport arrivals hall. She seemed to be doing her best.
