I’ve been glued to my computer screen working on a guidebook and will remain glued for another few weeks, missing Croatia’s coolest summer happenings. But since I myself am missing them, not all of you have to. If you happen to be nearby, check out one or two or all of these annual events. Can’t go this year? There’s always the summer of 2009!
Eurokaz is Croatia’s international festival of new theater that takes place in Zagreb in late June-early July. Held yearly since 1987, it has hosted over 300 artists and theater companies from around the world. This year, the headliner performances include Poor Theater by Wooster Group, Must Don’t Whip ‘Um’ by Cynthia Hopkins & Gloria Deluxe (which I was lucky enough to see!) and Bahok by Akram Khan and the National Ballet of China. Tomorrow is the closing day.
Motovun Film Festival takes place every late July-early August in the medieval hilltop town of Motovun in Istria’s interior. Dedicated to independent productions, it claims it “wants to be a small festival showing small films, small in the warmest sense od the word.” This five-day marathon, Croatia’s answer to Sundance, features non-stop al fresco and indoor film screenings, plus plenty of partying. This year marks the tenth anniversary of this popular event, opening on 28 July.
Coming up this weekend, 4-6 July, Zadar Garden Festival is a real treat if you want to boogie by the sea. This ultra-popular event pulls in dance music fans from afar to the revamped-retro Barbarella’s club in Petrčane near Zadar. According to The Guardian, it showcases “music veering towards the disco, funk and happy house end of the spectrum, and a site small enough to go for a quick swim during a set and be back in time for the next song.” This year’s line-up is pretty tempting to me…
In the lovely little Renaissance town of Svetvinčenat (or San Vincenti) in Istria, the Dance Festival and Non-Verbal Theater Festival presents contemporary dance pieces, street theater performances, circus and mime acts, and various other non-verbal forms of expression. The festival hosts performers from Croatia and Europe, its acts ranging from Finnish hip hop to Brazilian capoeira. This year’s festival is slated to kick off on 18 July; it closes on 22 July.
I’ve always heard croatia was a happening place….i guess i heard right. That music festival seems pretty fun to go too…have you been before?
and shouldn’t you go? it’s material for the book!! 🙂
Croatia is happening for sure! Almost too much so. I fondly remember the time when the Adriatic sea and islands were practically empty.
Haven’t been to the Garden Fest and wish I could go… but the deadline is looming.
there’s less and less hidden places in the world…especially in europe…