Bringing Drupal Back to Sofia: How We Launched the First Drupal Bulgaria Meetup

I still remember standing in the room just before 7:00 PM on May 22nd, looking around and thinking, “Wow, we actually pulled this off.” What started as a small idea to bring together local Drupal professionals turned into something much more meaningful than I could’ve imagined.

Let me take you behind the scenes of how the first official Drupal Bulgaria Meetup came to life and why this is just the beginning.

Why I Decided to Organize a Drupal Meetup in Bulgaria

For a while, I had this idea bouncing around in my head: there’s a Drupal community here in Bulgaria, especially in Sofia, but we haven’t had a real gathering place. No regular meetups, no events. I wanted to change that.

The vision was simple: bring together Drupal developers, tech leads, digital professionals, and anyone involved in open-source to share ideas, learn something new, and make real connections.

My main goal wasn’t about numbers or scale, it was simply to make it happen. To create a starting point. I knew if we could just do the first one, we could build from there. And we did.

Partnering with The Drop Times

The timing aligned perfectly. Around that same time, The Drop Times launched a global initiative to support 100 Drupal meetups around the world. I reached out, and we partnered for the Sofia edition.

It was a huge help, especially because this was all new for me, managing communications, logistics, content, even trademarks. Their support gave us that extra push we needed to make the event feel official.

Choosing the Theme: The Future of Drupal in the Age of AI

When we started brainstorming topics, one idea kept coming up: AI.

The rise of Generative AI is changing everything, not just the way we write, design, or market, but how we develop software. That includes Drupal. I wanted the meetup to open a discussion around thi,s not just the benefits, but the challenges too.

That’s how we landed on the theme: “The Future of Drupal.”

Event Night: What Happened in the Room

We started the meetup at 19:00. A few people were already there, and by the time the first presentation began at 19:10, more people kept walking in.

What really struck me was the energy. People were curious. You could feel that this was something new for the city, not just another tech talk, but a real community gathering.

We had two lightning talks:

• The first talked about AI in a general context, its role in development, and how it’s shifting the mindset of engineers.
• The second brought it back to Drupal, showing practical applications and use cases of AI in module development, workflows, and architecture.

Both talks led to a fantastic open discussion. The audience jumped in with questions about AI tools, ethics, productivity, and even cybersecurity.

One quote that really stuck with people came from Janny, one of our speakers:

“In the end, AI is just a more intelligent autocomplete for our code.”

And during my own talk, I said something that sparked more nods than I expected:

“With AI, we don’t need to remember every piece of code by memory.”

The Best Moment? Beers and Community.

After the talks wrapped up, we moved into networking, and to be honest, that was my favorite part of the night.

Everyone grabbed a beer or a snack, and the room transformed from a presentation space into a buzzing social one. Conversations started naturally. People introduced themselves, shared what they were working on, or simply geeked out about Drupal.

Some attendees were Drupal veterans, others were from neighboring tech communities, but the vibe was the same: let’s connect.

What People Said After

I wasn’t sure how people would react to a first-time meetup. But the feedback? It honestly blew me away.

People told me they appreciated the organization, loved the theme, and were excited to see this kind of event finally happening in Sofia. Some asked, “When’s the next one?”

I even heard ideas about making it bigger, more speakers, more structure, maybe even a full-day conference in the future. We’re not there yet, but it’s nice to know the interest is real.

Why This Matters for the Drupal Community

Drupal is more than code. It’s a collaborative ecosystem. The modules you use every day? Maintained by someone in the community. The support forums? Filled with volunteers. Innovation in Drupal has always been driven by people showing up and contributing, and meetups like this are where that starts.

In Bulgaria, and in Sofia especially, we have incredible talent. We just needed a reason to get together in the same room.

This meetup wasn’t just about AI or tech trends. It was about starting a movement. Creating a consistent space for open-source minds to connect, share, and build something meaningful together.

Behind the Scenes: What It Took to Make It Happen

Not going to lie, planning this was tough. The weeks before the event were full of checklists, calls, content planning, and a lot of “What did I forget?” moments.

From booking the coworking space to posting on LinkedIn and Meetup, to sorting out legal details and visual branding… it was a hustle.

But every second of work was worth it.

Why? Because when I looked around that night and saw people engaged, talking, and even staying after the event officially ended… I knew we did something special.

I also need to give a huge shoutout to Marj, my content editor, who helped organize everything behind the scenes, and Peter, who gave our opening introduction.

What I Learned — and What’s Next

Looking back, I’m proud of one thing:

We made it real.

We didn’t wait for perfect timing. We didn’t overthink it. We just did it.

That said, next time I’ll plan earlier. I want to lock in speakers sooner, promote earlier, and give people more time to prepare. But now we’ve got the structure and experience to build from.

Yes, there will be another meetup likely in September or October 2025. I’m already excited to make it bigger, better, and even more inclusive.

And if you want to get involved as a speaker, a sponsor, or just to help out, reach out. We’re building this together.

From an Idea to a Community

Personally, I walked away from the Drupal Bulgaria Meetup feeling re-energized.

I met people I wouldn’t have otherwise met. I learned from the community. And I saw with my own eyes that there’s a real interest in growing the open-source scene in Sofia, not just for Drupal, but for all of us working to build better digital tools.

If you’re still reading this, thank you. And if you’re even a little curious about getting involved, we’d love to connect.

Let’s keep this momentum going because this is just the beginning.

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Let’s keep the momentum going.

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