PARTY CENTER 4km (Четвърти километър /Chetvurti Kilometur)
Address: 111 Tsarigradsko Chausse, Sofia
Tel: 02/ 870 07 75 [4-km.com]
Office open: 9.00 to 18.00;
The club starts at about 22.00
When it first opened in September 2006, I didn’t like the idea of the new “party centre” called 4th Kilometre (Четвърти километър), as it was too far from where I lived. Fortunately I moved nearer and now it seems closer, even though it is four kilometers away from the centre of Sofia, way down Tsarigradsko Chausse at the cloverleaf intersection leading to Studentski Grad on the one side and Slatina on the other.
As it replaced a former military restaurant, the party centre has that megalomaniac architecture typical of communism’s state edifices, which, however, absolutely suits DJ parties and concerts. Now decorated in a modern minimalist style with fashionable colours, pretty wallpaper and soft furniture in earth shades, it all makes the massive, cold-looking building a more than pleasant and lovely place to visit after a hectic week, a place at which to have a drink, listen to good music and dance, never feeling alone. Whenever I have been there, there has never been a lack of clients dancing the night away.
The night of November 23 was the first time that I saw three halls open at the party centre; each of the previous times I was there, there were only two halls open to welcome the clubbers. On that night, there took place the best party that I have ever attended at the club, the third Drum and Jazz festival, organised by HMSU (hmsu.org).
Bulgaria’s most famous kaval (wooden flute) player Theodosii Spassov, pictured bottom right, and his band entertained the huge crowd for about two hours in the Jazz Hall (as it was called on that night). During the news conference preceding the event, Spassov said that he was delighted by the HMSU invitation to play at the festival.
The other two big rooms were labelled Bass and Drum. Popular and very appropriate for my taste, UK and US DJs LTJ Bukem, Stamina MC and Deadbeat played sets there into the wee hours of November 24, preceded and followed by many local young DJ miracles. Other young Bulgarian talents put up various visuals on the multimedia screens located in some of the halls.
The place, even being the biggest party club of its kind in Sofia, was hardly able to accommodate the about 2000 people who, according to my calculations, were dancing there that night. The giant halls are equipped with both soft furniture and high tables and chairs, leaving the choice to the client. Surprisingly, even though so many people go there, seating has always been available when I have been there, perhaps because most of the people visit the party centre to dance. However, if one gets tired, they can always sit on any table because the clients of the place never mind sharing their space, making new acquaintances or clinking glasses with strangers.
To its benefit, the acoustics in all three halls is quite good, assuring one that the place is appropriate for live concerts as well as for DJ parties and music played on vinyl.
Fourth Kilometre can also be hired for conferences, seminars, presentations, exhibitions, wedding parties, birthdays, high school graduation balls, fashion shows and workshops. Even though I have never visited any of the above-mentioned events, confining myself to the concerts and parties, the high-ceilinged halls seem quite appropriate for all kinds of occasions anticipating more than 100 people. There are four halls in total with a combined size of 2000 sq m, which could easily fit about 2500 people standing. Another advantage of the place is the sound system and acoustics, which are better than they were in 2006, and the impressive lighting. The cloakroom has space for the belongings of about 2000 people, even though on busiest nights you must be patient and queue up for about half an hour. The lavatories are beautiful.
But leave your car at home if you plan to arrive after midnight, because the car park accommodates a maximum of 250 cars.
