After six amazing years in Petrcane – the original epicentre of Croatia’s now burgeoning independent festival scene – it’s time to move to pastures new, and the party has taken root a little further along the stunning coastline. Ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to introduce you to The Garden Tisno.

The new site is an undiscovered musical paradise which fits right within the Garden’s esteemed and revered ethos, where the emphasis is always on an unparalleled experience combining festival and holiday vibes seamlessly as one. It’s set in a gently hilly area which overlooks the Garden’s very own beautiful bay below, complete with sandy beach and crystal clear water.

Tisno – split between the mainland and the island of Murter, joined by a 20m rising bridge – is just a ten-minute walk away, is a charming picture-perfect town with a host of restaurants, cafes, apartments and small boutique hotels. It’s situated pretty much right between Zadar and Split airports, which lots of flights from Europe to each.

Nick Colgan, one of the festival’s directors, explains that, “We really feel we have found a new home which captures the magic of our original vision but also evolves it a bit too. The Garden Tisno has its very own village, featuring 80 on-site apartments which can hold 300 people, as well as 30 Indian Shikar tents with electric fans and lighting, proper beds, mosquito nets, dressing room and porch area. There are also 120 pitches for people bringing their own tents. It will also feature the familiar elements everyone knows and loves – twice daily parties on the Argonaughty seadog including sunset trips close to the Kornati Islands, partying around the Main Stage and Tiki Bar day and night and a brand new Barbarellas club. The entire site runs right along a truly gorgeous shoreline, so dancing right by the glittering waters under the sizzling sun or a moonlit star-speckled sky – classic Garden experiences – remain, helping to keep the festival so unique. And with Funktion 1 across all areas the sound will once more be amazing! Already Tisno really feels like home and we think it will for everyone else too.”

One of the new developments is that Barbarellas will now be open to all; once again it will be hosted by some of world’s top club nights and promoters each night throughout the Garden Festival in a completely open air location with a bigger capacity that will ensure all Gardeners will get the chance to experience the new club environment.

Barbarellas is located on the sea front and is just a short bus ride away from The Garden Tisno. Transfers will be arranged by us to ensure you can easily get there for a bit of late night revelry before the buses or taxi boats whisk you back to Tisno.

The first wave of acts will be announced in mid-January.

The Garden Tisno – A New Beginning – Weds 4th – Weds 11th July 2012 @ Tisno, Croatia
Full week tickets: £90
www.thegardenfestival.eu
www.watchthegardengrow.eu

The 9th Zagreb Film Festival will be held from 16th-23rd of October 2011, on  on several locations in Zagreb, showing about 90 films in seven sets of programmes including : new film debuts – 12 feature films, 10 short films, and 16 documentaries, competing for the festival’s award – the Golden Pram, Croatian short films, Bib for Kids, My First Film, The Great 5 (new European films from Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Britain and Austria.

For more detailed info and full programme visit ZFF homepage: www.zagrebfilmfestival.com

In the the article, Natalie Paris writes about various festivals along the Croatian Adriatic coast , including Rab Island , Groznjan, Motovun and Cres Island music, film and folk festivals.

Here is an excerpt from the article : ‘It was high season (late July), and while plotting our route we realised we could festival-hop between medieval towns, many experiencing something of a renaissance. Each summer, formerly abandoned villages promise programmes of arts and music in beautiful surroundings. Reasoning that a road trip is a great way to see any country and that a party at each destination could not fail to disappoint, we sealed our plan. We began with a weekend of seriously old-fashioned merriment at the Rapska Fjera…’ 

Read the whole article here + check more info about Istria, Kvarner and Croatian Islands ..

The Soundwave Festival in Croatia has announced a second round of acts with The Cinematic Orchestra, DâM FunK & Zero 7 (DJ set), amongst those joining the likes of Toddla-T, Benji B, DJ Format, Andreya Trianna and DJ Vadim already on the bill.

The festival, now in its second year, has already been chosen by The Guardian as one of their top ten festivals to try in 2010, describing it as having “all the quirks of a Bestival but in a far more beautiful, and sunny setting”.

Situated in the picturesque Dalmatian fishing village of Petrcane, in near vicinity of Zadar, Soundwave 2009 was a sell out event with the crowds enjoying glorious sunshine, boat parties, club nights and sets from artists such as DJ Yoda, Hexstatic, The Bays, Alice Russell and many more.

Said Noah Ball, Soundwave promoter, “I think anyone who came to the festival and saw the site last year will be able to imagine what a mindblowing experience it will be to see The Cinematic Orchestra play by the sea and under the stars. I wasn’t sure last year could be beaten but I think we may have just done it.”

Said Rob Waller, Soundwave Promoter, “After the success of last year we’ve been inundated with artists who wanted to play Soundwave in 2010. With these new additions to the line-up we really do have the line-up of our dreams now. What could better than spending the day relaxing in the sunshine, listening to the likes of Zero 7 before getting down to some serious partying as the sun sets.”

Launched by UK promoters Soundcrash and New Bohemia, Soundwave is the perfect combination of summer holiday and cutting edge music festival, a chance to hear the best new music around whilst cooling your toes in the crystal blue waters of the Adriatic Sea.

Festival Listing Info:

23-25 July, 2010
The Soundwave Festival
The Garden, Petrcane, Croatia

“All the quirks of a Bestival but in a far more beautiful, and sunny setting” The Guardian

“Perhaps the summer’s most beautiful site” Time Out

“Basically The Big Chill on sea” London Lite

CONFIRMED LINE-UP
The Cinematic Orchestra / Zero 7 (DJ set) / Toddla T / DâM FunK / Smith & Mighty / Benji B / DJ Vadim / DJ Format / Charlie Dark / Mr Thing / Stuart McCallum (The Cinematic Orchestra) / Mr Thing / Kid Kanevil / Jon Kennedy / Yarah Bravo / Part Time Heroes / Laura J Martin / Andreya Triana / Homecut / Bridgette Amofah / Nathan “Flutebox” Lee / Bullion & Paul White / dEbruit / Alexander Nut / Andy H & Gilla / ASM – A State of Mind / Blue Daisy / Channel One Sound System / Confusion DJs / DJ Cheeba / DJ Suhaid / Gentleman’s Dub Club / Illum Sphere / Lone / Milly Blue / Phat Phillie / Riot Jazz / RSD / Shepdog / The Bedmo Disco Soundsystem / Fife / Hobbes / Join The Dots DJs / Paper Tiger / The BPM
Plus many more TBC + Download festival broshure here

TICKETS: Tickets are £75 (plus booking fee) and available from http://www.soundwavecroatia.com/ .  A limited number of earlybird tickets are available priced at £50 but these are expected to be sold out before the end of January.

TRAVEL INFO: The closest airport to Petrcane is Zadar which is serviced daily by flights from across the UK and Europe and is approximately twenty minutes away by car. Other airports in the region include Split Airport (90 mins) and Zagreb airport (3hr). For those with more time for an adventure other airport options in Croatia include Rijeka, Pula or Dubrovnik. Also not too far away are Ljubljana in Slovenia with Easyjet and Trieste in Italy with Ryanair.

ACCOMMODATION: Whilst there is no on site camping at Soundwave there is a wide range of hotels, campsites, apartments and villas all within close proximity to the festival site. Check here listing of Petrcane Hotels + browse and book accommodation in Petrcane

The 1st Festival of Croatian Animated Film, dedicated to Croatian short animated films, will be held on 21 and 22 February in Zagreb in Kino Europa cinema. The Festival resulted from traditional Days of Croatian Animation and it will be held every two years. The Festivals aim is to screen Croatian films and to promote animation as an artistic form. Beside film screenings it will also feature round tables, workshops and numerous presentations. Detailed festival’s programme is here: hrvatska-animacija.org/program/

During this period, in Rijeka and the entire Kvarner varioius events, concerts, exhibitions, theatre performances and celebrations will be held,. On January 30th, the Carnival Snowboard Session will be held in the centre of Rijeka, at which around 20 top snowboarders from around 10 countries will participate. This snow event is unique for its snow trail 200 meters from the sea for which 70 m2 of snow is transported into Rijeka.

The carnival is continued on February 6th, when the Rijeka Korzo (main square) will host the children’s carnival.  The climax of the carnival is on February 14th when the international carnival procession will be held at the same location. The competition in creativity, wittiness and originality, the fireworks of colours and shapes will result in a parade of hundreds of allegorical floats, thousands of masks and a great audience.

According to some estimates, the streets of Rijeka gather more than 150,000 participants from the country and all over the world during this event. Six centuries of carnival tradition in this area and the influence of the Venetian and Austrian bourgeois carnivals are the basis on which the renewed Rijeka carnival started to create is unique identity in 1982. Starting with three local carnival groups and 100 participants, it has grown into an international event, numbering today over ten thousand participants from various countries.

The number of participants and spectators has ensured the Rijeka carnival membership in the  Federation of European Carnival Cities (FECC)  placing it among the most significant in Europe.

The Rijeka Carnival has imposed itself with its uniqueness as the fifth season of the year – the season of going crazy and relaxation, and with its rich entertainment, sports and cultural program. More info on  Rijeka International Carnival web:  www.ri-karneval.hr

At the beginning of October, in Supetar on the Island of Brac, the traditional autumn event, “Grape and Wine Festival”, is hold. The festival is a week of local cuisine devoted to the “varenik”, a traditional  preparation made from young wine, which makes traditional  Dalmatian meals even better and tastier.
Varenik is used as a condiment and is made by the long cooking and reducing of stum. The ancient Greeks and Romans used it. It is believed varenik is an aphrodisiac, and Roman soldiers used it as an energy drink to regain strength. Because of its high content in natural sugar, it was also used as a sweetener.

Few towns in Croatia have preserved the tradition of  making varenik, but the inhabitants of Brac have worked systematically at reviving it. With the festival, they want to bring back varenik as a condiment, used for centuries as a  crucial part of Mediterranean recipes.
On Brac, varenik is made from red grapes, while on Korcula it is made from  local white grapes. It is used as a condiment for various sauces, stews and wild game dishes. Varenik is also the basis for the production of aceto balsamico. Apart from its great culinary value, it is also excellent for digestion.

Duing the festival, Suptar restaurants will offer a variety of  dishes with varenik at promotional prices. The organizers  are also preparing a presentation and tasting of original Brac cakes and sage juice, prominent wine producers will present their wines, and visitors prone to an active vacation will be able to participate in the vintage, after which varenik will be prepared on the ranch “Palute”.

Read more about Brac island and check Supetar Hotels on Island of Brac 

Supetar Tourist Board www.supetar.hr

The festival turns Dubrovnik, a city of exceptional beauty, into a unique stage. Its history dates back to 1950. It soon became clear that it is an exceptional cultural event. For instance, French author Claude Aveline, who took part in the very first festival, wrote ten years later that, at the time, he could never have known he was witnessing “the birth of one of the most well-known festivals of our era”.

In 1956, the Dubrovnik Summer Festival became a member of the European Festivals Association (EFA). Every year, the theatre, music and dance program is exceptionally rich and it is impossible to mention all its performances and participants. For this year, among others, two performances of the Festival’s theatre ensemble have been announced: Shakespear’s “Hamlet”, directed by Ivica Kuncevic, and “Na taraci” by Ivo Vojnovic, directed by Joško Juvancic. The play “Orgy of Tolerance., written by Jan Fabre, is also on the repertoire. It is directed by its author and produced by the Dubrovnik Summer Festival in collaboration with numerous other international festivals and theatres. “Epitaphio” by Marin Držic will be put on by the Student theatre “Lero. and directed by Davor Mojaš.

Also taking part this year is the greatest theatre director of our time Peter Brook with his adaptation of Shakespeare’s sonnets, put on by the French theatre ‘Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord’.

The music program features a performance of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vjekoslav Šutej, and the soloists Nadja Michael (soprano) and Zoran Todorovich (tenor), and a gala concert of the Philharmonia of the Nations, conducted by Justusa Frantz. The audience can also look forward to a repeated performance of last year’s great success, F. Handel’s opera ‘Acis and Galatea’, performed by the Festival’s Opera Ensemble and the Croatian Baroque Ensemble.

Dance enthusiasts will certainly enjoy in the chamber ballet based on the motifs of Boris Vian, “The Plumber”, and numerous other performances by Croatian folklore ensembles.

This year, the Dubrovnik Summer festival will once again gather some of the most prominent artists from the entire world. One of them is certainly one of the greatest violin players of our time, Vladim Repin, who will perform together with the prominent piano player Itmar Golan, in the Atrium of the Duke’s Palace on 22 August.

One of the festival’s greatest specificities is certainly the ambient of the City of Dubrovnik and the eight unique venues at which it is held: the Atrium of the Duke’s Palace, in front of the Church of St. Blaise, the cinema house “Jadran”, the Art School park, the Lea of Ruder Boškovic, the fortress Revelin and its terrace, and the fortress Lovrijenac. Tickets
for the 60th annual Dubrovnik Summer Festival are available online at www.ulaznice.hr

More info on Dubrovnik Summer Festival site  : http://www.dubrovnik-festival.hr/

The Supetar Super is a documentry film festival which is currenltly held in Supetar on Brac Island.

The documentary-film lovers, who are currently visiting Brac will have an opportunity to enjoy four days of film screenings, concerts, exhibitions and special events.

The films are screened in the centre of town in an open area in front of the local church.

Camping is arranged for festival visitors who do not want to pay for more-expensive accommodations. The price for four days in campsite is 10 Euros per person.

More info on Supetar Super homepage : www.supetarsuper.com

The Dubrovnik Summer Festival presents a rich programme of classical music, theatre, opera and dance on more than 70 open – air venues over 47 days in summer each year.

Every story has its beginning. Great stories have many beginnings. And there is no absolutely reliable historiographic method to distinguish the truth. Or is it, maybe, impossible for great stories to start with just one beginning? I guess that’s why every History has to have its Prehistory…

The history of Dubrovnik Summer Festival was – undoubtedly – conceived during thirteen nights of September 1950, when a real town persistently and uniquely transformed itself into an imaginary Town. Ten years later, French writer Claude Aveline, who had taken part, wrote how he could not surmise that he was attending “the birth of one of the most glorious festivals of our time”.

The prehistory of the Festival is not as easy to reach. It seems that its rudiments go back as early ad the rudiments of the Town itself. As if they both grew out of the medieval urban matrix. They put forth leaves within humanist horizons, flowered in renaissance and baroque. In the eighteenth century they grew ripe. Then they tire in, so it seemed, inseparable co-operation in the dawning of the national epoch, when the imaginary Town irreversibly loses its nationally constructed counterpart. But a genius locus does not tire! The energy of the millennial history keeps on shining with artistic endeavours. Ever since, by command of its historical being, sharing the destiny of other Croatian lands.

The aforementioned genius loci gave power to the ideas leading to the constitution of the imaginary festival Town. Rumour has it that even Reinhardt couldnt resist them at the eve of World War I. And than in 1993, the occasion being PEN World Congress in Dubrovnik, Gundulićs “Dubravka” takes place in front of Rectors palace, for chosen international audience. It was a starry dress rehearsal of the birth of Dubrovnik Summer Festival. But it took horrid expectation in new age martyrdom before the happy moment.

Both history and prehistory from the very first artistic steps of the newborn Festival were at the same time a precious impulse and a limitation. Controversy had been noted a long time ago. And it lasts until nowadays. Because true art will never be a copy of no matter how glorious tradition. The strategy of this obstinacy was written by no other but a sequence of happy festival nights that divined reality. Nights in which Beauty was won.

Many an artist danced the Festival reel. Domestic and foreign. Famous ones and those who will come to fame under Dubrovnik sky. In the course of the half a century names and generations followed each other. But all of them were and always will be enchanted by siren call of the ancient Njarnjas and unrepeatable Dubrovnik, holding in common with its audience, creating at least temporary imaginary Town.

This is history without names or numbers. There is just too many of them, and they are all equally important. For the Festival is nothing but an imaginary parade. And a dream that rounds up that little life of ours.

Text by Ivica Prlender, director of the festival – Find here detailed programme: www.dubrovnik-festival.hr

In yesterday’s eddition of The Observer, under the title ‘ How Croatia splashed on to the music festival map’, Luke Bainbridge, of Observer Music Monthly magazine, ‘ follows the clubbers to a sleepy fishing village on the Adriatic‘ .

Here is an excerpt from the article:

.. The site is key to Electric Elephant. Petrcane (pronounced ‘Petrcharner’) is a charming 900-year-old fishing village, halfway down the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, near Zadar. The festival site itself, however, is based on a curving headland just outside the village, predominantly hidden by trees. The same site will this summer be used by the Garden Festival and numerous others. It is based around a circular beachfront bar and the wondrous Barbarellas, an 1970s discotheque in the round, that was built for disco the first time round. After its original heyday, Barbarellas had lain derelict for years until it was rescued by the current owners, Brummie ex-pats Eddie and Nick Logan…

These are the highlights:

The Garden Festival
3-5 July and 10-12 July; tickets £70; thegardenfestival.eu.
Headliners Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay

Soundwave
17-20 July; £60; soundwavecroatia.com.
Headliners DJ Yoda, The Bays, Alice Russell, Hexstatic

Airbound
31 July-2 August; €59; airbound.net.
Headliners Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, Beardyman

Like Minded Festival
13-16 August; £50; likemindedfestival.co.uk.
Headliners Hector, Toby Tobias, Tristan Da Cunha

Electric Elephant
28-30 August; £70; electricelephant.co.uk.
Headliners Unabombers, Andrew Weatherall, Joakim

Disco3000
4-6 Sept; €60; disco3k.com.
Headliners Château Flight, Move D, Trus’me

Exodus
11-13 Sept; £75; exoduscroatia.com.
Headliners Iration Steppas, Mungo’s Hifi, N-type

Read the whole article here

Queer Zagreb, festival which hosted so far some of the biggest figures of contemporary dance expression, controversial video projections, motivated discussions and artistic considerations is set to take place from 5th to 10th of May in Zagreb.

‘Queer Zagreb festival contributes each year to the cultural and social diversity of Croatia, as the program attracts wide audiences and allows them to see things differently – but also to see different things.

The festival has been making its mark by presenting artists who challenge norms of aesthetics and of contents within which the vast majority of local culture in Croatia rests, dizzy by the stale stench of mediocricy and bored with itself into deep slumber.

The strength of festival’s program this year lies in the variety of artistic aesthetics and approaches to body as tool of precise choreography, as a source of private and public pleasure or pain, as a space of violence, vessel of illness.

Festival managed to bring together an impressive choir of artistic voices from Brazil, Argentina, France, Germany, Great Britain and Bulgaria.

Details: Queer Zagreb 2009, time: 5.05.2009. – 10.05.2009. place: Zagreb, Croatia , organiser: Queer Zagreb (http://www.queerzagreb.org)

The venue is Student Centre Cinemas in Croatian capital – Zagreb.

The festival promoted the latest production of cinematography from Croatia.

The selection includes feature films, documentaries, animations, experimental and short films.

Click here to see complete programme of the festival.

The 5th ZagrebDox, an international documentary film festival, opened its door on Monday in Zagreb to all documentary fans and is still running until 01.03.09

The Festival was officially opened with the screening of Pinuccio Lovero  A Midsummer Death’s Dream, a documentary about a frustrated undertaker who is having a tough time because none of his fellow citizens has died yet.

Just before the screening, festival director and chief selector Nenad Puhovski expressed gratitude to the audience for visiting the festival in ever growing numbers every year.

He also greeted Croatian president Stjepan Mesić who attended the opening ceremony.

Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić , who officially opened the festival, greeted everybody and said that the city has had faith in ZagrebDox form its very beginnings, but that the fact that more than 50,000 viewers saw its films in the past 4 years has exceeded all expectations.

I was also there, sitting  in the audience (see me in lower left corner of above photo), enjoying the opening night – click to see the large photo of ZagrebDox audience

The festival has three programs – the Regional Competition, the International Competition and the Documentary and Other program.

At the festival that is celebrating its fifth birthday,  the audience will have a chance to see over 120 contemporary documentary films, among which will be musical documentaries, films about current crisis of modern capitalism as well as Happy Dox program.

The Fifth ZagrebDox will be taking place in Zagreb Student Centre, Savska 25, Zagreb, Croatia ( www.sczg.hr )

See detailed programme: www.zagrebdox.net and check last year’s festival info

The museums that are participating are in following places : Biograd na Moru, Bjelovar, Čakovec, Dubrovnik, Đakovo, Gornja Stubica, Gospić, Karlovac, Kastav, Kaštel Lukšić, Klis, Koprivnica, Krapina, Makarska, Opatija, Osijek, Požega, Pula, Rijeka, Samobor, Sisak, Slavonski Brod, Split, Šibenik, Trakošćan, Umag, Vid (Metković), Virovitica, Vukovar, Zadar and Zagreb.

All participating museums offer entry free of charge.

Click here to download the programme of the Night of Museums and visit Croatian Museums website : www.hrmud.hr

Update: Museum Night marks record in number of visits

Museum Night, an event organised annually and throughout Croatia which offers free entry into museums and galleries from 6 pm to 1 am, saw a record in the number of visits. Some 140,000 people visited museums and galleries in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, Rijeka, Osijek and Split on the 4th Museum Night organised on Friday. Of the 20 museums in Zagreb, the Technical Museum in Zagreb registered a record 16,584; in Rijeka 13,148 people visited the local museums, in Osijek 8,519 and in Split 10,270. The event was supplemented with additional contents – concerts, lectures and performances; in Zagreb with a fireworks display.

The cooperation of Ogulin and Berlin on fairy tale projects continues at mutual satisfaction, but mostly at the satisfaction of all those enjoying the world of fairy tales.

The main theme of Berlin fairy tale days was storytelling and imagined interpretations of fairy tales, but also the modern stories for children and adults performed by educate storytellers or famous writers.

Ogulin fairy tale festival, which was held for the third time in 2008 and which hosted the Berlin festival, was positively welcomed at the presentation in the German Centre for fairy tale culture. On that occasion, further cooperation between the two festivals on common projects was agreed upon, it was found out at the “Muze” studio for cultural management from Zagreb.

Ogulin fairy tale festival is a unique international project which, through celebration of fairy tales and creativity, makes and shows art and cultural production for kids, youth and adults.

It was inspired by the creativity of the famous Croatian children writer Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (1874-
1938) who was born in Ogulin.  Its goal is to promote art and cultural production meant for all the generations and the scenes are named after the characters from the tales of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić – scenes, Regoč, Kosjenka, Potjeh, Stribor, etc.

In 2008, this manifestation takes place from June 1 to June 14, and on June 10, the pre-festival shows for kids and everyone else who enjoys the imaginative world of fairy tales are on.

It is interesting to mention that in 2010 in Ogulin there should be a multimedia centre “Ivana’s House of Fairy Tales,” whose goal will be multimedia informative programmes meant for affirmation of fairy tales and the writer Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (www.ogfb.hr).

With that centre, Ogulin will become a unique destination of cultural tourism in Croatia and the wider European region and it will improve the quality of the offer throughout the year.

Developmental project of cultural tourism “Ogulin – a place of fairy tales” was presented at the conference Creative Clusters in Glasgow. The main themes of last year’s conference, held from November 17-27 in Edinburgh and Glasgow, were creative economies in small countries, new technology and film, festival cultural policies and strategic guidance in the area of creative economy.

Development cultural-tourist project “Ogulin – a place of fairy tales,” based on the legacy of fairy tales and stories, was presented together with two successful projects from Scotland and Norway with the theme of storytelling, and numerous colleagues and the audience judged it as innovative and inspiring.

The international carnival procession, which is expected to gather groups from the Rijeka region, those from all over Croatia and abroad, is scheduled for 22 February.

The Queen of the Carnival will be chosen on 23 January, and the keys to the town will be turned over to the Mayor of the Carnival, Master of Ceremonies Toni.

The centre of Rijeka will see different events among which a snowboard competition that has also been announced.

Check more info at carnival site here

Zagreb is offering the Zagreb Time Machine event once again this year each weekend starting from now until September 27th at the Zrinjevac park, the central square in Zagreb Donji Grad and the Zagreb Upper Town. 

Those visiting will be able to sample the life as it was once and the foods that were prepared.

Concerts will be held on Saturdays between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Zrinjevac pavilion.

Click to see some Zagreb photos & check more info about Croatian capital – Zagreb

This exhibition of photograhs is divided into two groups: the portraits of the artists who took part in the Dubrovnik Summer Festival in last three years and ’The Comparable Situations’  –  sets of two photographs of  the same setting taken in different times  –  see photos here

The exhibition will be opened until 11th of April. Read more about Dubrovnik..

The 4th Dubrovnik‘s Libertas Film Festival  will take place from June 27th to July 4th 2008.

Libertas Film Festival will once again combine the excitement of World and European premieres, discovery of new International and Croatian filmmakers, and the rich culture and history of the region and the city itself.

In the previous years Libertas attracted industry professionals such as Gila Almagor, Woody Harrelson, Owen Wilson, David Dinerstein, Lakeshore Entertainment, Milan Trenc, ‘One Night at the Museum’ (writer of the comic book), Nina Kusturica, producer, Michael Ohoven, the producer of ‘Capote’, Maria Joao Sigalho, producer of ‘Odette’ from Portugal, Trevor Groth, programming director of CineVegas FF, Sanja Vejnovic, actress and producer, Albert Kapovic, producer, Vinko Bresan, director, and Goran Navojec, actor.

The first Libertas Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Mr. Relja Basic, one of Croatians best known and most favorite actors of all time who performed in over 50 Croatian and over 70 foreign films, and in over 4500 theatre shows. The second one went to one of the top actresses of the world, Mrs. Gila Almagor, the star of Israeli cinema, last seen in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Munich’.

Film submission are opened until March 15th, so hurry up –  submit your film + Read about Dubrovnik

This year’s Rijeka Carnival includes various exhibitions, entertainment programmes, theatre performances and the traditional procession of bell-ringers and merry-makers.

A Children’s Carnival Procession with some 5,000 youngsters participating is scheduled for 26 January and an International Carnival Procession on 3 February, which will be attended by more than 10,000 participants and 100 carts.

Sime Strikoman will be documenting some 5,000 Carnival participants.

The end of the Carnival will be marked with the traditional burning of the Pust – a man-like doll blamed for all the bad things and events of the past year.

Rijeka Carnival home page : http://www.ri-karneval.com.hr/Home.aspx?PageID=1&gohome=true

Prices for tonight’s dinner at any of Dubrovnik hotels are between 500 and 800 Kuna.

Elswhere, at Dubrovnik’s open spaces, it is expected there will be about 20 thousands people enjoying themselves.

The New Year’s Eve Party will traditionally take place. The Dubrovnik Summer Festival and the Dubrovnik Tourist Board carry on the tradition of organizing the New Year’s Eve Party at Stradun (Placa).

Tonight, in front of church of Sveti Vlaho, where pop concert is planned with Oliver Dragojevic, Nina Badric i Dalmatino band, among other performers, there will be, traditionally, the largest number of spectators.

The Dubrovnik Christmas Jazz Gala include concerts and workshops from various jazz musicians that will take place from the 28th to 31st December in Dubrovnik, Croatia:

• 29th December, Saturday, 8pm @ Hotel Dubrovnik Palace (Club Orlandiño)
• 30th December, Sunday, 9pm : @ Hotel Dubrovnik Palace (Sunset Lounge)
• 31st December, Monday, 9pm : @ Stradun (Placa) – the main Dubrovnik square - for the New Year’s celebration.

The musicians performing are: Douglas Sides (drums), Shawn Montero (vocal), Marcelo Godoy (vocal, electric and acoustic guitar), Filho Nelson (guitar), Ishaq Abdullah (bass), Steven Hupkens (keys), Reggie Johnson (double bass), Domagoy Ralasic (sax, clarinet), Jesse Davis (sax), Julius Green (vocal)

Plus Free Jazz Workshops  will be held every day (11am to 1pm and 5pm to 6.30 pm)

More info at : http://www.jazz.agevent.biz/

Extravagant Bodies is a collaborative, intermedia and interdisciplinary art event addressing the theme of disability as important social and political issue in the region.

The main focus is a critical questioning trough art activity, of the social, political, and cultural position and identity of people with disability.

It is based on the fact that what is considered normal (as well as what is not) is ideologically determined and deeply rooted into the structures of society. The knowledge of existence of something other and different generates negative identification, social exclusion, fear and hatred.

The artists participating at mostly belongs to the minority sections of society – the disabled – and in their works they deal exactly with what makes them different, using their difference as a theme and bringing it into focus, unafraid of social critique and judgment. All the works that will be presented are performance-based.

This includes creating a productive environment where the specified theme can be contextualized through a variety of artistic projects as well as close collaboration of artists with non-artist local organizations and initiatives dealing with disability. A

rtists featured in the festival are disabled persons themselves, who use their bodies in performance art, photography, film, to talk about their bodies and needs.

The project is conceived through interdisciplinary approach offering different perspectives on the subject by experts from the fields of art, medicine, sociology, philosophy and psychiatry.

The project will be publicly presented, in different scales and versions in Zagreb (Croatia), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Belgrade (Serbia).

Check for detailed programme of the Festival at official festival site http://www.kontejner.org/