On June 20 and 21, the H2START – Trakia University stand at Na Zeleno: Bedechka Fest gave visitors a practical way into a subject that is often buried under technical terms: hydrogen.
The festival was a natural setting for that conversation. Held annually in Stara Zagora’s Bedechka Park, Na Zeleno brings together nature, culture, children’s activities, sport, workshops and civic initiatives. Its wider idea is to reconnect people with the park and encourage care, participation and more sustainable ways of thinking about the city.
That mission overlaps closely with H2START’s own work. The project is developing research capacity in renewable hydrogen, but its purpose is broader than technology alone. It is also about helping Stara Zagora build the knowledge, skills and partnerships needed for a cleaner energy future.
Seeing the process, not just hearing the promise
At the stand, visitors could follow the hydrogen chain in a simple, visible way. Demonstrations showed how hydrogen can be produced from water using electricity. Small hydrogen-powered model cars showed how the stored energy can be converted back into motion. A Toyota Mirai provided a full-scale example of fuel-cell mobility.
Together, the demonstrations answered a basic but important question: what does hydrogen technology actually do?
They also opened the door to more difficult ones. How clean is hydrogen? Where does it make sense to use it? What infrastructure does it need? Could it support new industry and jobs in Stara Zagora?
The aim was not to present hydrogen as a universal solution. It was to explain where it can contribute—and why research, infrastructure and informed choices matter.
A shared learning space for children and adults
The stand attracted visitors of different ages, often for different reasons.
Children played with the model cars, produced hydrogen themselves, and met Vodorodcho, H2START’s superhero character whose superpowers explain clean-energy topics in an accessible way. Parents often helped play the hydrogen game and stayed for the explanations and moved from the activity to questions about energy, transport and the region’s future.
This created something more useful than a conventional exhibition stand: a space where a child’s curiosity could lead to a serious family conversation.
That matters because the energy transition will affect entire communities. It cannot remain a discussion only for engineers, researchers and policymakers.
Why Bedechka Fest matters to H2START
Bedechka Fest is built around active participation rather than passive observation. It asks people to spend time in a shared public space, take part, learn something and think about how that space—and the city around it—should develop.
H2START approaches hydrogen in a similar way.
The project is establishing a Centre of Excellence in Hydrogen Technologies in Stara Zagora, with work spanning research, education, talent development and cooperation with industry. But the success of that centre will also depend on whether the local community understands what is being developed and how it relates to the region. It is about building enough understanding for informed debate: where hydrogen is useful, where it is not, what benefits it could create and what trade-offs must be considered.
Connecting environmental ambition with regional capability
The connection between a green festival and a hydrogen research project is not merely thematic. Bedechka Fest focuses attention on the relationship between people, nature and the future of the city. H2START works on another part of the same challenge: how a region with a strong energy identity can develop cleaner technologies without losing its industrial capacity, skills or economic role.
At Bedechka Fest, H2START brought those larger questions into a setting where people could approach them through a working model, a game, and a straightforward conversation. That is the value of events like this: not making complex technologies look simple, but making them understandable to discuss properly.
