Vasil Levski National Stadium

Vasil Levski National Stadium
Location	Sofia, Bulgaria
Coordinates	42°41′15.30″N 23°20′7.60″E / 42.687583°N 23.335444°E / 42.687583; 23.335444Coordinates: 42°41′15.30″N 23°20′7.60″E / 42.687583°N 23.335444°E / 42.687583; 23.335444
Opened	1953
Renovated	1966, 2002
Owner	Ministry of Physical Education and Sport of Bulgaria
Operator	Ministry of Physical Education and Sport of Bulgaria
Surface	Grass
Architect	Kano Dundakov
Capacity	43,632
Field dimensions	105 X 68
Tenants
Bulgaria national football team Lokomotiv Sofia (2010-)

Vasil Levski National Stadium (Bulgarian: Национален стадион „Васил Левски“), named after Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski, is one of Bulgaria's largest sports venues and the country's second largest stadium. The stadium has 43,632 seats and is located in the centre of Sofia, on the territory of the city's oldest and most famous park - the Borisovata gradina.

Vasil Levski National Stadium was officially opened in 1953 and reconstructed in 1966 and 2002. The Bulgaria national football team's home matches and the Bulgarian Cup finals are held at the venue, as well as athletics competitions. It was also used as the home venue for Levski Sofia's Champions League games.

Prior to their demolition by the Communist authorities during the 1940s, two other stadiums stood on the ground where the current national stadium lies. One of those was Levski Sofia's club stadium and the other - the Yunak Stadium. The latter used to host national football team matches with its capacity of about 15,000 seats. Levski were compensated for their loss with a place in the suburbs of Sofia where they were allowed to build a new stadium - the present day Georgi Asparuhov.

The stadium offers also judo, artistic gymnastics, basketball, boxing, aerobics, fencing and table tennis halls, as well as a general physical training hall, two conference halls and three restaurants. It hosted the 1957 European basketball championship.^[1]

It was the proposed venue for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Sofia's bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

In July 2011 plans were announced to build a new, state of the art 40000-seater national stadium in the Sofia suburbs.

Concert venue

The stadium has hosted music shows by a number of regional and world stars.

The most succssesful concert in Bulgaria ever and thus at the Vasil Levski stadium was held by Yugoslav superstar Lepa Brena in 1990 in front of 100.000 people. ^[2] This record remains unbroken till date. The curiosity of the concert was the way Lepa Brena arrived at the stadium - by landing from the helicopter directly to the stage.

American metal band Metallica held one of the most successful concerts in Bulgaria in the stadium as part of their 2008 European Vacation Tour, attracting 50,000 people.^[3]

American superstar Madonna had a very successful concert here as part of the second European second leg of her Sticky & Sweet Tour on August 29, 2009. She performed in front of 54,000 people ^[4] and was warmly welcomed by her numerous fans. After the show grass was badly damaged, which caused some discontent amongst football fans, national team players, coaches and staff.

On 14 May 2010, Australian rock band AC/DC played the Bulgarian capital Sofia, in front of nearly 60,000 fans as part of their Black Ice World Tour.

A festival, under the name Sofia Rocks, part of Sonisphere_Festival took place on the Vasil Levski National Stadium. The festival was held over 2 days on the 22nd and 23 June with live performances by world renowned bands such as Rammstein, Metallica, Manowar and Alice in chains among others.

The Big Four, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax, performed all together during the Sonisphere_Festival. The event was broadcast live around the world.

References

1. ^ Eurobasket History - The 50's
2. ^ "Serbia's Pop Folk Legend Lepa Brena to Thrill Bulgarian Fans in April". Novinite.com. March 27, 2008. 
3. ^ M3 Web - http://m3web.bg+(2008-07-26). "Legendary ???Metallica??? Musicians Rock Sofia: Legendary "Metallica" Musicians Rock Sofia - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency". 188.40.98.135. http://188.40.98.135/~novinite/view_news.php?id=95513. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
4. ^ "Madonna HOME". Madonna.com. http://madonna.com/news/title/madonna-takes-a-bow-as-final-show-of-recordsmashing--sticky--sweet-tour-ends-in-israel-. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 

Preceded by 1955 Final Venue Budapest

Eurobasket Final Venue 1957

Succeeded by 1959 Final Venue Istanbul

Preceded by Stadio Olimpico  Italy

Universiade 1977

Succeeded by Estadio Olímpico Universitario  Mexico