IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival

IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival in Pernik is a short-film day built around concentrated screening blocks, filmmaker conversations, and the quick turnover that makes this format feel lively rather than sprawling. You are not settling in for one marquee premiere and calling it done; you are moving through a sequence of international short film screening blocks, catching different styles and countries back to back, then stepping out into the festival accreditation and information point or nearby café spaces where people immediately start talking about what they just saw.

Early morning is the calmest part of the day, with arrivals clustering around the first accreditation period and the opening screening block. From late morning into the afternoon, the pace picks up as audiences move between Pernik screening venues for scheduled programs, then pause in the gaps for coffee, quick conversations, and seat changes before the next block begins. By afternoon and early evening, post-screening Q&A sessions and any jury or awards-related programming give the day more of a festival feel than a simple cinema schedule. After the last screenings, people tend to drift out toward the central Pernik pedestrian and café area, where filmmakers, guests, and regular ticket holders keep the discussion going over drinks rather than heading straight home.

This festival is built around the behavior that short films create: quick transitions, strong reactions, and immediate debate. Instead of asking you to commit to one long feature and disappear into a single auditorium, it keeps sending you back into circulation between screening blocks, post-screening Q&A sessions, and the central Pernik café scene where people carry the conversation forward while the last program is still on their minds. The competitive edge from jury or awards-related programming sharpens that pace, but the real character comes from how fast the audience resets—watching several countries and styles back to back, then comparing notes almost in real time with filmmakers, guests, and other viewers.

This is a festival day of quick resets between screenings rather than long sit-down meals, so coffee matters, and so do simple Bulgarian dishes you can eat without losing half your break. Around the central Pernik pedestrian and café area, expect people to grab something fast after a screening block, then settle in a little longer once the evening programs are done and the film talk spills onto café tables with wine and grilled food. Must Try:

• banitsa
• shopska salad
• grilled kebapche
• kyufte
• Bulgarian red wine