The stonemasonry school in Pucišca on the Island of Brac recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. It is a unique educational institution is also representing an  attraction for tourists as well. Read the rest of this entry »

The Blue Flag, an international label signifying a clean environment and a high level of development and facilities, has been awarded to 115 Croatian beaches and 20 marinas.

Apart from seaside beaches, blue flags are fluttering on seven continental beaches this year: the Aquacity beach near Varaždin and beaches of the sports and recreational centre Jarun in Zagreb. Read the rest of this entry »

The Dubrovnik Summer Festival, traditionally held from 10 June to 25 August, will once again gather top musical, dance and theatrical performers from Croatia and abroad. What makes this year’s festival special is that it is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

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. Read the rest of this entry »

In July Dubrovnik,  will be host to the world’s best divers, who will test their skills and talent at the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series 2009 competition.

The fact that only incredible natural and urban locations are chosen as venues for this world-class event, and Dubrovnik and its fortress Lovrijenac indubitably belong to this circle of destinations, only adds to the divers’ excitement.

Dubrovnik already was host to this event nine years ago. This year, divers, including the nine-time world champion Orlando Duque, are facing a 26-metre dive. When diving, divers only have seconds to decide which diving elements to put together, depending on the spatial factors and weather at hand. Never before did athletes have to dive eight times in a row from such a high cliff, which means that this year’s championship and its participants will push this sport to its very limits and set new standards. Only 30 to 40 athletes in the entire world have the capacity to do this exclusive and extreme sport.

12 great divers from nine countries are taking part in this year’s series, which, apart from Dubrovnik, is held in destinations in France, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Switzerland and Greece. To them and all extreme sports enthusiasts, Dubrovnik will prove an interesting and attractive host, and the beauties of this city under UNESCO protection an ideal background.

At the beginning of June, the first direct charter flight from Osaka to Zagreb arrived at Zagreb airport.

The Croatian National Tourist Board organized a welcome ceremony for the 350 passengers and crew-members, who enjoyed a performance of the folklore ensemble, each receiving a traditional gingerbread heart (‘licitarsko srce’) as a gift. Read the rest of this entry »