September 28, 2021 - Nothing to envy the regions of Istria or Dalmatia when it comes to tourism statistics in the last summer months, as Brod-Posavina county has also broken its own records with an attractive offer that combines peace, comfort, and nature.

The proof that tourism does not take place only on the Adriatic is Brod-Posavina County, which from the beginning of the year to September 21 reached 82% of overnight stays from the best pre-pandemic 2019. And the great growth trend continues, reports HrTurizam.hr.

Judging by the tourist results, Brod-Posavina County has confirmed its status as a year-round destination. Although it is not over yet, the month of September is better than the record 2019. It is also encouraging that 37,357 overnight stays from the beginning of the year to September 21 increased by 35% compared to the same period in 2020.

"If we look at overnight stays by type of accommodation, the most sought-after facilities in the household are farms, ranches, family farms, holiday homes in rural areas, which recorded an increase of as much as 166% compared to last year. The September record-holders in overnight stays are the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Garčin with growth of six times and the Municipality of Cernik, which realized three times the number of overnight stays compared to the same month last year. These statistics indicate only one thing - guests are looking for indigenous, original, and tourist unspent with a stay in nature, and this is exactly what we offer in our county", said Ruzica Vidakovic, director of the Tourist Board of Brod-Posavina County.

It is a happy fact that 15 new facilities with 124 beds have been opened this year, but also the fact that 60% of the total number of tourists are foreigners and 40% are domestic guests.

Regarding the position and growth index of overnight stays for the first eight months of 2021, if we compare with the record 2019, Brod-Posavina County within the cluster Slavonia, five Slavonian counties, achieved an index of 80.28 compared to the average of Slavonia, which is 69.74.

Ethno-eco village Stara Kapela, Ramarin Ranch, Dida Tunje House, Savus Farm, Matin and Ana's apartment, Kereković Estate, Opođe Rural Household, Paljevina Farm, Villa Melani, Villa Čop, holiday houses “Regoč” and “Atar”… - they are real discoveries for lovers of rural tourism. Here you will feel the beauty of the Slavonian village, in the peace and quiet of nature, get rid of stress and find yourself again.

Brod-Posavina County is networked with trails, so almost every corner can be explored by bike. Slavonski Brod, Nova Gradiška, picturesque villages, forests, the riverbank, choose what you like and go on an adventure. This is an opportunity to visit the artificial lakes Petnja and Ljeskova vode, a special reserve of forest vegetation, and the rest of the Slavonian rainforest Prašnik, erosive canyon Pljuskaru with several waterfalls and caves, ornithological reserves Jelas and Bara Dvorina, pasture Gajnu with wetland flora and fauna, cattle, Posavina horses, and black Slavonian pigs. A green paradise for all those who want a holiday in a different way.

“We thank all the stakeholders involved in creating and creating a recognizable and indigenous brand of our destination as well as tourist facilities. We also thank all stakeholders of the private and public sector for their cooperation and support in the implementation of a number of joint projects, thus creating new opportunities and content", concludes Vidaković.

For more, follow our travel section.

September 28, 2021 - The Zagreb Subversive Festival 2021 will present movies and discussions on alternative, progressive solutions to burning global issues throughout October.

After the iconic Kino Europa (Europa Cinema) in Zagreb's centre closed down (despite huge support for it to remain, as well as protests), many cultural festivals that called the venue their home weren't sure where they would continue their cultural programmes.

However, many programmes successfully moved on, and the Zagreb Subversive Festival is no exception. The 14th edition of this progressive culture event is making a return to Zagreb and will last from October 3-23.

The Tuškanac Cinema, the Cultural Informative Centre (KIC), the Prosvjeta Serbian Cultural Centre (SKD Prosvjeta), and the Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography joined forces to host the programme. Additionally, the online Volimdokumentarce.net (Ilovedocumentaries.net) programme will live stream online for those unable to attend the events in person.

''The Zagreb Subversive Festival 2021 is a multi-disciplinary platform inside which political theory and film join forces to shake up the status quo, identify the aesthetic of resistance and nurture a more radical approach to film, theory, and practice. We're interested in the potential transformation of our neoliberal daily lives, and the role art and culture could play in this endeavour,'' writes the official website of the Subversive Film Festival.

The festival began back in 2008, marking the 40th anniversary of 1968 global protests, and since then, it has evolved into one of the most important progressive festivals in the region. The festival is split into two sections: The Subversive Film Festival and the Subversive Forum.

The film part showcases movies that deal with topics of social injustice, social change, women's and minority rights, LGBTQ+, student and workers' issues and movements, as well as post-colonial heritage. The screenings also have a competitive nature due to the ''Wild Dreamer'' Award for the best feature, documentary, and short film categories.

The Subversive Forum portion of the festival holds conferences that present ''tools for the deconstruction of the offered normalised story about the world'', as well as the articulation of a possible alternative reality and its foundation.

Noted international movie directors, philosophers, social scientists, and activists such as Oliver Stone, Toni Negri, Slavoj Žižek, Michael Hardt, and many others have attended and participated in the Zagreb Subversive Festival over the years.

The 14th edition has a central topic, ''A Post-COVID Democracy: The Ethics of Fight and Solidarity Poetics'' and thirty movie titles are confirmed for the programme, which will be filled with exhibitions, lectures, and discussions that will stretch throughout the month of October.

Learn more about Zagreb in our TC guide. 

For more about culture in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

September 28, 2021 – 27-year-old Motifs of Podravina Festival showcases all the region's unique art, cuisine and culture, including fantastic wines, music, dance, folklore, food, arts & crafts plus a huge outdoor exhibition of Croatian Naive Art. We preview the 2021 Autumn edition in pictures...

© Puhački orkestar Grada Koprivnice

© Mato Zeman

© Mato Zeman

The city centre streets and parks of Koprivnica will once again explode with colour, cuisine, music, dance and art this weekend for the 28th Motifs of Podravina Festival. The much-loved event showcases all of the unique aspects of culture from the region.

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

Usually taking place in summer, the 2020 event was postponed by the pandemic and instead held in autumn. With very surprising results. Numbers of visitors to the event increased dramatically. As a result, another autumn edition of Motifs of Podravina will take place on Saturday 2 October and Sunday 3 October 2021.

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

A run-up to the event is already underway at some of Koprivnica Križevci County's most famous museums. There are special exhibitions currently on show at Koprivnica Gallery, the Gallery of Naive Art in Hlebine and the Mijo Kovačić Gallery in Koprivnica. All these participating museums will open their doors to the public for free this weekend.

© Damir Spehar/PIXSEL

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

The celebrated works of the region's famous artists will be joined by an explosion of colour through Koprivnica City Park. There, one of the largest outdoor exhibitions of art in Croatia takes place. Over 50 Croatian Naive Artists will be displayed through the park and on Zrinski Square. As such, this is one of the best times and places to come and learn more about Croatian Naive Art and the very famous branch of it that comes from this region - the Hlebine School (you can read more about it here).

© Mato Zeman

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

Stalls displaying Hlebine school paintings and other art of the region will be interspersed with others offering arts & crafts, traditional produce and tasty treats.

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

© Mato Zeman

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

© Mato Zeman

Holding the event in autumn allows Motifs of Podravina to take advantage of harvest time. Colourful pumpkins and squash might well be seen. The surrounding countryside is rich with wild mushrooms. Famously, they are collected to make a local specialty soup. And, the county's famous corn is ripe and ready, as are the chestnuts. So, too, the brilliant, new season wines of Koprivnica Križevci County. This year, some of the best local wines will be joined by guests from Hungary and presented by Koprivnica City Museum.

Vineyards of Koprivnica-Križevci County © Marc Rowlands

Award-winning wine of Koprivnica © Marc Rowlands

Adding to the colour with a distinctly local flavour, music, folklore and dance are offered by Folklore Ensemble Koprivnica, the International Children's Folklore Societies Meeting and KUD Rudar Glogovac. Additional music comes from Koprivnica City Puhački Orkestar, folk-rock band Ogenj and singer Eric Vidovic.

© Folklore Ensemble Koprivnica

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

© Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica

© Folklore Ensemble Koprivnica

Entrance to Motifs of Podravina Festival. Photographic preview of the event made possible with the kind assistance of Turistička Zajednica Koprivnica here and photographer Mato Zeman.

Photos of celebrity and local guests at previous editions of Motifs of Podravina, captured by © Mato Zeman

September 28, 2021 - TCN contributor and Zagreb translator Ana Juzbašić walks us through the much-loved semi-compounds of the Croatian language in our newest series Do you speak naški?

The Croatian language loves to portray a situation or a person using semi-compounds. Some have their English counterparts, some do not. They usually rhyme so they are easy to remember. Considering the fact that people learn best via context and visualization, we are going to do exactly that.

1) You are in college and your parents called. They are coming over unexpectedly and your apartment is a giant mess. Well, what you need to do is to make everything cakum-pakum (=spick and span) before they pull over on the driveway!

2) Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you with evidence of all evidence. John heard it from Katie, Katie told Jackie, so she told her sister and her sister told me. Hey, I don’t believe you, that’s all a bunch of rekla-kazala (=hearsay).

3) Were you ever in a situation where you had to pass an exam in order not to fail a year in college? Well, let me present you with the stani-pani (=when push comes to shove) situation, a situation where there is no place for procrastination, you just have to suck it up and do it.

4) When you have an idea you don’t want to give it up. You would do it no matter what and pošto-poto (=under any circumstances).

5) Moving along the same lines. There is another phrase of similar meaning. When you want to say something happens regularly regardless of the circumstances. He goes for a morning jog before work, orilo-gorilo (= rain or shine). 

6) Your friend got an idea. It makes no sense at all. Something like I’m going hiking on Kilimanjaro. You’ll probably say to him/her: You are crazy skroz-naskroz (=all the way).

Hope you learned some new words and pulled the parallel with English! Until next time!

Sources:

https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/166942 

For more on lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

ZAGREB, 28 Sept, 2021 - The Croatian Chamber of Nurses (HKMS) has distanced itself from unscientific and unprofessional views on vaccination against COVID-19, spread by some of the nurses.

"A large number of nurses have been vaccinated, notably 72 percent of them, and the Chamber once again calls on all nurses to get vaccinated and thus protect their health and the health of their patients," the HKMS said in a statement on Tuesday.

The dissemination of untrue and scientifically uncorroborated information, especially when it comes from nurses, makes the fight against the epidemic and efforts to increase the vaccination rate difficult and undermines trust in the healthcare system, it added.

The HKMS stressed the importance of vaccination as the only effective way to overcome the epidemic and get life back to normal.

Many of our nurse colleagues treat hospitalised patients for serious forms of COVID-19 and many of them see their patients, most of whom have not been vaccinated, die, the HKMS said, reminding nurses that "nursing is a medical profession and our public discourse must be based on the results of medical science."

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 28 Sept, 2021 - A growing number of foreign workers are coming to work in the north of Croatia as local metal, manufacturing and construction companies have difficulty finding labour on the domestic market, Večernji List daily said on Tuesday.

Workers are coming from the Philippines, Ukraine, Nepal, India and elsewhere and there are already so many of them that there is a shortage of accommodation for them. They are staying in hotels, holiday apartments or rented accommodation, the newspaper said.

In the Međimurje region, more and more old and renovated houses in which no one has lived for years are being rented. A 200 square metre house is rented to four persons for HRK 3,200 (€425) a month, or HRK 800 (€105) per person.

"We have been well received. We don't go out much. After work, we go to our flat and watch television. Sometimes we go to the lake or to the nearest cafe for a cup of coffee," says a Ukrainian who has found a job in the catering industry. He shares the rent with a workmate, and earns twice as much as he would in Ukraine. He plans on going to Germany one day.

"There are almost no young workers available on the domestic market, notably in occupations such as bricklayers, carpenters or rebar workers. These occupations are dying out in this region," a CEO was quoted as saying.

The question of whether an inclusive centre should be opened has been raised in Varaždin County. The county's head, Anđelko Stričak, said that the local economy would have difficulty functioning without foreign labour and that the foreign nationals living and working in the region should be looked after.

Nearly 57,000 work and residence permits have been issued to foreign nationals in Croatia this year, the newspaper said.

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

September 28, 2021 - The referees in the 11th round of the Croatian First League have been announced, which does not include Mario Zebec and Ivan Bebek, two of Croatia's most famous referees who HNS has reprimanded for several blunders in the 10th round. 

24 Sata reports that several reffing mistakes marked the 10th round of the Croatian First League, and HNS has taken action with consequences for individual referees. 

The names of the referees in the 11th round have been announced, but the list does not include Mario Zebec and Ivan Bebek, who were chastised in the last round for numerous errors and poor judgment. 

This can be understood as a kind of punishment by the Croatian Football Federation for Zebec and Bebek, as a way to help the Croatian referees learn from their mistakes. There have been many objections around Croatia from various refereeing and football experts in recent days, forcing the two already infamous refs to cool off, at least as far as the next round is concerned.

Zebec was the center of attention after not awarding a blatant penalty for Gorica against Rijeka (3:4). In the 93rd minute, Štefulj stepped on Dvorneković in the penalty area, which Zebec did not find suspicious. He got a second chance after communicating with Fran Jović from the VAR room, but even after reviewing the video, Zebec did not call a penalty. 

In addition, according to referee expert Mario Strahonja, he should have repeated Rijeka's penalty because a player entered the penalty area too early, and he failed to show a red card to Rijeka's Krešić.

Ivan Bebek, on the other hand, led the match between Hajduk and Lokomotiva at Poljud. Bebek had numerous conversations with players and coaches with the desire to show his authority, and at the beginning of the match, he missed a blatant penalty for Hajduk. De Haas tripped Marko Livaja in the penalty area, but there was no penalty for Bebek. He didn’t even bother consulting VAR, which provoked a fierce protest from Livaja, who eventually earned a yellow card. 

"The tripping is not intentional or of great intensity, but the criterion of the probable situation is the one for which it was a penalty kick. The Lokomotiva player disrupted the opponent's coordination and movement," said Mario Strahonja.

The 11th round between Osijek and Hajduk (Sunday, 7:30 pm) will be reffed by Igor Pajač and the match between Šibenik and Gorica on Friday by Tihomir Pejin. Duje Strukan will lead Lokomotiva and Slaven Belupo, and Andrej Burilo from Osijek will ref Dinamo and Hrvatski Dragovoljac on Sunday. Fran Jović will referee the derby between Rijeka and Istria on Saturday.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE.

ZAGREB, 28 Sept, 2021 - In the last 24 hours Croatia has conducted 9,257 coronavirus tests, and 1,061 of them, (11.5%) have returned positive, whereas eight more COVID patients have died, raising the COVID-19 death toll to 8,614, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Tuesday.

There are currently 7,100 active cases, and of them 738 are receiving hospital treatment including 102 patients placed on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of the infection with the novel virus in Croatia in late February 2020, the country has conducted over 2.8 million tests that have shown that 401,169 people have contracted the virus, and of them 385,455 have recovered, including 1,098 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

As many as 22,467 people are self-isolating.

To date, over 3.4 million vaccine doses have been administered, and 44.46% of the total population or 53.48% of the adult population have been vaccinated.

Every second adult Croat has fully been inoculated to date.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.