Before the albums and arenas, Toše's career was built festival by festival. Macedonian and Yugoslav pop festivals were where young singers were discovered, and he used every one of them. Here is the sequence as fans usually tell it.
| When | Festival | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Age 12 | Zlatno Slavejče, Skopje | Children's festival appearance with a song in Aromanian, at the suggestion of Hristo Hristovski–Mularot. |
| 1996 | Melfest, Prilep | Won at fifteen, singing The Beatles' "Yesterday". |
| 1997 | MakFest | Performed "Pušti me" ("Let Me Go"). |
| 1998 | Skopje Festival | Sang Kristijan Gabroski's "Stay to the End". |
| 1998 | Ohrid Troubadours | Second jury prize for "Usni na usni" by Grigor Koprov and Ognen Nedelkovski. |
| Nov 1998 | Eurofest, Skopje | Grand Prix for the song known in English as "Sun in Your Blonde Hair". |
| 1999 | Skopje Festival | A third big hit by the Koprov–Nedelkovski duo. |
| 2000 | Skopje Fest | Won the televote, third overall, in the Eurovision selection. |
| 2000s | Slavic Bazaar, Belarus | "Tajno moja" brought him to an international audience. |
| July 2001 | Sunčane Skale, Herceg Novi | Second place. |
| April 2003 | Beovizija, Belgrade | Won with "Čija si" by Leontina Vukomanović and Željko Joksimović. |
Why the festivals mattered
The festival system rewarded exactly what Toše had: a trained voice, stage confidence and the ability to sell a new song to a jury in one performance. Each win brought radio play and a stronger songwriting team. The partnership with Grigor Koprov and Ognen Nedelkovski, formed in these years, gave him most of his early hits.
Melfest is a good example of his range. Choosing a Beatles ballad at fifteen, in Prilep, the town where he was born, showed the jury someone comfortable outside the local pop idiom. Four years later the same singer would record an album of traditional Macedonian songs with an orchestra.
A note on titles
Where an English title appears in quotation marks above, it is a translation used in English-language sources, not an official release title. We give the original only where we are sure of the spelling. For album titles, see the discography; for Istanbul, see Eurovision 2004.