Croatia's Top Festivals
Explore Croatia's folklore, traditions and music at a few fun festivals, including the contemporary Music Biennale Zagreb and the edgy Hartera Festival.
By:
Valerie Conners
Tomislav Medak, flickr
Organized by the Croatian Composers Society, the Biennale has also begun to feature lectures, workshops and symposiums covering topics such as 20th-century classical compositions, to accompany the live music. Most notably, over the years festival organizers have collaborated with major figures in contemporary music who in the past have included John Cage, Igor Stravinsky and Bruno Maderna, helping solidify the Biennale's reputation at the forefront of the genre.
Eurokaz Festival
Darek Zon, flickr
The festival strives to highlight aspects of the arts in countries around the world -- for example, focusing on new theater in Italy, modern dance in Africa, traditional Asian theater and French filmmaking. Film and video screenings, discussions, symposia, workshops and concerts pepper the festival, often corresponding to performances. While an array of international performances are featured, the festival also serves to highlight the Croatian arts scene, with performances from national theaters and artists, such as internationally renowned Croatian artist and video maker Dalibor Martinis.
Tomi, flickr
The 3-day festival features performances by more than 200 artists, and attracts some 35,000 attendees. Recent bands to hit the Hartera stage include the Norwegian electronica duo Röyksopp; the London-based dub music band Dub Pistols; and the British indie-rock band the Klaxons. Festival-goers even have the option of camping onsite at the festival, or staying at nearby hostels or hotels, like the Hotel Continental.
Reuters
While the festival's theme varies each year, in 2013 it will be celebrating Croatia entry into the European Union, and visitors can expect a focus on a rich variety of European dances such as promenades, contra dances, quadrilles, cotillions, mazurkas, waltzes and polkas. Performances are typically held in Zagreb's Old Town, on stages in the Gradec neighborhood and the central Ban Jelačić Square. Attendees can even bring their dancing shoes if they wish; a series of folkloric dance lessons are open to the public throughout the 6-day festival.
Chris Haring & Loizen Bauer
Festival events are held at theaters throughout Zagreb and even in some performance spaces in Rijeka. While many of the festival's events are geared toward the dance connoisseur, such as its roundtable discussions ancillary to specific performances, novices will enjoy the festival's dance exhibitions, performances by top-notch choreographers and film screenings.
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