This is the Tournament Portal for our 2026 Spring West Tournament, which will be held in Sofia on February 7th-8th.
Registration
Registration for the tournament is closed.
Logistics
Tournament Dates: 7-8 February 2026
Registration Opens: January 7, 2026
Registration Closes: January 21, 2026
Number of contestants: by January 14, 2026
Number of student participants confirmation by BEST team: January 15, 2026
Fee payment: January 15 - 21, 2026
Host Site
The tournament will take place at 51st Secondary School “Elisaveta Bagryana” in Sofia.
Accommodations
From this year, BEST Foundation will only arrange accommodation if requested. For detailed instructions, refer to the registration email.
BEST reserves up to two nights of accommodation for all participants. BEST commits to negotiating accommodation costs at or under 30 EUR (58.67 BGN) per student per night. This does not apply for single rooms. Participants have to pay for their own accommodation costs while BEST covers the costs of all judges for up to one night in a hotel and up to one chaperone.
All payments must be made in EUR.
Hotels
Judges and Team Coaches will receive emails with their hotel allocation for the weekend. Please refrain from communicating with the hotels directly and contact BEST instead if you have questions or concerns.
Travel
All teams are required to bring a chaperone who will be legally responsible for their team’s safety when traveling to and competing at the venue. Chaperones are required to be aged 18 or over, fluent in Bulgarian, and not high school students.
Teams are encouraged to apply for a travel scholarship. Coaches can fill out the scholarship application form by clicking here. Teams allocated scholarships will be reimbursed after arriving at the tournament venue. Please read our scholarship terms and conditions for further information BEFORE applying for a scholarship.
Please, keep in mind the distance between the tournament site and the different stations:
Route from the train station to the school
Route from the bus station to the school
Public transport from the bus/train station to the school (weekday)
Public transport from the bus/train station to the school (Saturday)
Public transport from the school to the bus/train station (Sunday)
If needed you can use taxi as the Sofia taxi’s prices are max 4 to 4.60 EUR (8 to 9 BGN), only if you travel to more distant destination:
Taxi Numbers:
OK Supertrans:
Telephone number - 029732121
Yellow! Taxi:
Telephone number - 0291119
App (Android)
App (IOS)
Book online
OK Taxi:
App (Android)
App (IOS)
TaxiMe:
App (Android)
App (IOS)
Green Taxi:
Telephone number - 02810810
For any information or concerns regarding transport in Sofia, contact info@bestfoundation.bg
Judging
We welcome all high school students (only if they are 18 years old or above), graduates or above with C1 or higher English to judge at our tournaments. If you are new to BEST and our tournaments, visit our Judging Basics page!
Coaches, you must register if you are judging, too, and don’t forget to include your judges when you fill out your team roster spreadsheet (see below).
Our Judge sign up form can be accessed by following this link.
We will reimburse all judges for their transport if they use trains or buses, but we strongly encourage taking the most affordable option when possible (usually trains). Please purchase your ticket back from the tournament location as well, as we cannot reimburse you without being presented with tickets. We will provide food at the tournament site, and we will also cover one night of hotel accommodations for regional tournaments.
Coaching
BEST Coaches should download our Coaches’ Checklist and make sure their teams are up to date.
Press Releases
(EN) Pre-Tournament Press Release
(BG) Pre-Tournament Press Release
Tournament Schedule
Novice and Varsity divisions are merged for: Poetry and Duo
Saturday, Feb 7, 2026
08:45 - Team Check-in
09:00 - Speech Judge Q+A // SL Meeting
10:00 - Opening Ceremony
11:00 - Round 1 Flight A: Oratory, Prose, and Duo
11:00 - Debate Judge Q+A
12:30 - Round 1 Flight B: Poetry and Debate (Prepared)
14:00 - Lunch
14:45 - Round 2 Flight A: Oratory, Prose, and Duo
15:30 - Reimbursement for Team Scholarships and Travel Chaperones (1 hour)
16:00 - Round 2 Flight B: Poetry and Impromptu Debate Motion Released (45 min. of prep)
16:45 - Round 2 Debate start time
18:15 - Semifinals: Duo, Prose, Oratory
19:30 - Round 3: Debate (Prepared)
Quarterfinals: Poetry
Sunday, Feb 8, 2026
08:30 - Judge report time
09:00 - Check-in for Debaters
09:30 - Round 4: Impromptu Debate Motion Released (45 min. of prep)
Semifinals: Poetry
10:15 - Round 4: Debate start time
10:00 - Reimbursement for Judges (1 hour)
11:15 - Finals Flight A: Oratory, Prose, and Duo
12:15 - Finals Flight B: Poetry and Debate (Prepared)
14:15 - Closing Ceremony
15:30 - Departures
Debate Motions
NOVICE
THW stop using the Spotify app (for moral reasons).
TH as Bulgaria would confiscate the cars of drivers with serial serious driving infractions.
TH supports the rise of students taking gap years before and during their post-secondary education.
Impromptu hints
Work
Philosophy
VARSITY
THW provide "a culture voucher" of 200 leva to every citizen/permanent resident who turns 18 in Bulgaria.
THW abolish political pardons.
THR the use of dynamic pricing.
Impromptu hints
Work, Women
Philosophy