October 23, 2020 - Given the epidemiological situation around Europe at the moment, it's hard to imagine any Christmas markets will be held this year at all. Here's the latest on Zagreb Advent 2020.
Vecernji List reported on Thursday that Zagreb Advent would be organized by Zagreb Markets (Tržnice Zagreb) and, according to the latest, the Zagreb Fair (Zagrebački velesajam).
In recent days, media speculation about the organization of the capital's biggest event has been mixed. But for now, the City administration is certain that Advent will be held, albeit on a smaller scale than previous editions. How exactly it will look, i.e., how many caterers will be allowed in certain locations and how the food will be served, is still to be decided.
"We only started discussing this topic two days ago; we will define the details at the working meetings. Advent will not be able to be at the level of previous years because there are fewer tourist arrivals and travel in general," said Mirka Jozic, head of the Office of Economy. At the meetings, it was agreed that the caterers would disperse, so Advent will be in the city center and the neighborhoods and allow counties to participate by exhibiting their souvenirs.
"The main attraction will be the area around the cable car, where caterers will also offer their products," said the City. They also note that Zagreb Fair will be in charge of the organization, allocating houses and catering, in cooperation with the Zagreb Caterers' Association and the Independent Association of Caterers, and Zagreb Markets will take over the logistics.
"We also demanded that anyone who is not a caterer be eliminated from renting houses or stalls. This should be solved by determining special coefficients based on the number of employees, income, and turnover of individual caterers," said Marin Medak, who has participated in Advent so far and is also a representative of the profession in meetings with the city administration.
Medak believes they could have an outline of the Advent organization by the end of the week. As for the allocation of houses, the caterers ask for a special committee to decide on it, including someone from the City, the catering sector, and. the Chamber of Crafts.
If the decision is passed by the Assembly, the procedure for allocating public space will be carried out by a special commission that will have a president and four members and their deputies. Locations will be awarded through a public tender, the commission will consider the received bids, and then the most favorable will be determined and submitted to the mayor.
The most favorable bid in the public tender procedure for setting up houses is a bid that meets the conditions of the public tender and contains the highest offered amount of a one-time location fee," explains the decision that took place last summer.
A returning tenant will have the right to take advantage of the tender, but one company will not rent more than 40 percent of public space. However, locations will be allocated directly, without a public tender, if there are vacancies after the tender. The commission will also decide who will get the location directly, i.e., they will propose candidates to the mayor.
As for the organization of cultural events, for which the Zagreb Tourist Board is in charge, they will take place following the National Headquarters' recommendations, whose measures are still awaited.
"We are in constant contact with them, and we are waiting for the decision of the Assembly, so we will know in which direction everything will go. So far, we have several framework scenarios, and we will hone the detail," said the Zagreb Tourist Board.
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