ZAGREB, December 16, 2018 - About a hundred scouts from throughout Croatia brought the Bethlehem Light of Peace from Austria to Zagreb on Sunday.

After a procession through the city centre, they were joined by Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and Zagreb Cathedral Rector Josip Kuhtić and together they took the Light of Peace into the Zagreb Cathedral.

The ceremony was organised for the 26th year in a row by the Croatian Scouts Federation. It is held under the auspices of the Croatian parliament.

The Bethlehem Light of Peace is a symbol of Christmas and in the Bible, it symbolises the coming of Jesus, whose birth promised peace to all people of good will. The burning and sharing of the Bethlehem Light is a reminder to people of good will to wish one another peace and well-being and to spread peace among people.

The head of the Croatian Scouts Federation, Lidija Pozaić Frketić, said that the custom of burning and sharing the Bethlehem Light of Peace was started by Austrian scouts, who first brought the light from Bethlehem to Austria in 1988. Every year scouts from across Europe flock to Austria to collect the light and take it to their respective countries.

Croatian scouts collected the Bethlehem Light of Peace in Linz on Saturday and today they will take it to their parishes and to many state institutions.

More news on the Advent festivities in Croatia can be found in our Lifestyle section.

Last year, the town of Rab recorded the two-millionth overnight stay 12 days earlier than expected. The last year's tourist season was a record-breaking one by the number of tourist arrivals and overnights. In the meantime, Rab has managed to extend the tourist season and brand its tourist attractions, such as the original and popular Rab Fjera festival. This event has now been joined by the Rab Island Advent Festival, which will this year be organized for the fourth year in the row, reports Večernji List on November 26, 2018.

The director of the Rab Town Tourist Board, Ivana Matušan, discussed the island’s tourism development.

The last year’s tourist season was a record-breaking one. Are you satisfied with this year’s results?

We are extremely pleased. In the first nine months, the town of Rab has recorded 1,436,298 overnight stays, while the one-millionth overnight stay in Rab occurred a day earlier than last year. The season was at the last year’s record levels, with 1% more overnight stays, but it is not over yet. I was extremely pleased with the pre-season. In the first five months, Rab achieved a growth of 43% in overnight stays. I believe that an interesting tourist December is ahead of us. For this Advent, we expect to have four hotels open, while last year we had just one, and I am sure that many private rental owners will open their properties for all tourists who want to experience a special island Advent.

How did the Rapska Fjera festival influence the branding of your destination?

Rapska Fjera is part of the town of Rab; it is inseparable from the town as a tourist destination, but also as the cultural center of the island itself. It has historical foundations on which the Rab history is based even today. There is no similar project in Croatia and the region, and I am very proud of the achieved level of quality, as well as of the award for the best tourism event in 2018, which we recently won at this year's Days of Croatian Tourism held on Hvar. With all of our projects, events and ideas, we strive to be unique, innovative and engaging. I believe there is still room for progress, but also that the efforts of all the stakeholders are visible to everybody.

How can you further improve the tourism offer?

We look forward to announced investments in hotel facilities, and the process of repositioning Rab as “the island of happiness" is underway. This is where I see room to further improve our tourism product. For example, in 2019, the town of Rab will carry the prestigious title of the European Island of Sports.

What about this year's Rab Island Advent?

The most beautiful island Advent festival will be even more interesting and larger than ever. We will expand to two town squares and two beautiful parks. The Rab Island Advent is slowly becoming a reason for the arrival of tourists to our destination during the winter months. This year will bring numerous entertainment programmes, ice skating and other programmes for children and somewhat older guests, right next to the sea. The festival will start on December 1.

For more on the island of Rab, click here.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Majda Mikulandra).

The Vinkovci town authorities have presented the upcoming Advent festival in Vinkovci, to be held under the name “Ice Orion”. The festival, which this year begins on November 30 and lasts until January 6, was announced the event's organisers: Vinkovci Mayor Ivan Bosančić, head of the Town Culture and Tourism Department Marija Liščić Drmić, and managing director of Novosti, Mirjam Jukić, reports Lokalni.hr on November 3, 2018.

“Last year's Advent was well-received among the citizens and guests who visited it our town, and this year we want to raise the bar scale even more. While preparing for this year's edition, we realised the shortcomings of the last year’s Advent and tried to change them to everybody’s satisfaction. We have expanded the ice skating rink because there are more and more people who wish to skate. We expanded it to 500 square metres so that everyone will get a chance to try this activity. I hope everyone will find something for themselves in the entertainment programme as well,” said Mayor Bosančić.

The festival in Vnkovci is the most visited Advent event in Slavonia, which is the result of a mixture of spiritual and entertainment content, the organisers organizers. The event is for the first time supported by the Tourist Council of the Croatian National Tourist Board, which has recognized the valuable social, tourist and economic aspects of the event for Vukovar-Srijem County and surrounding areas.

“We hope that this year there will be even more visitors because everything we do is aimed at fulfilling that goal,” said Liščić Drmić.

Nola, Zsa Zsa, the Husar Sisters and Emanuel are just some of the popular acts whose songs will be part of the Ice Orion and entertain visitors in anticipation of the largest Christian family holiday. The Ice Orion, which is another novelty of this year's Advent, is the name of the project which includes all the accompanying and entertaining programmes during the event.

“The Novosti company, in cooperation with the town authorities, is finishing the preparations for the Advent. In addition to what the town usually organises, like lighting of candle ignition or and the Christmas concert, we have prepared a series of concerts: on Thursdays there will be concerts of spiritual music, on Friday we will promote local bands, while Saturdays will see concerts of popular acts. We want people to visit the festival through the day,” said Jukić.

To read more about Vinkovci, click here.

Translated from Lokalni.hr.

A rather special Advent celebration.

We're halfway through November, meaning we're even closer to the longest Split Advent yet!

Last night’s opening festivities for Advent in Split fully kicked off. The Riva was packed to the brim complete with festive faces adorning mulled-wine stained cheeks, while Pjaca and Prokurative boasted disco dancing dreamers. The smell of kobasice filled the air, and live music occupied the ears; we can certainly say the first night of Advent in Split was a holiday success.

The lighting of the first Advent candle will take place on Saturday, 26 November at 18.00 to begin the Advent in Split. Here is the complete concert program as provided by Dalmatinski Portal.