ZAGREB, October 7, 2019 - The eighth edition of the "Five Days of Sarajevo in Zagreb" festival will be held from October 7 to 11 featuring a series of cultural and artistic events at several venues in the Croatian capital.

The festival will be held in the Mimara Museum, Kinoteka cinema, the Napred Cultural Centre, the Bosniak ethnic community gallery and elsewhere.

The official opening will be held on October 7 at the Mimara Museum with performances by highly esteemed Bosnian guitarist Boško Jović, who will be accompanied by Ante Gelo on the guitar and Bruno Phillipp on the clarinet.

On the evening of the last day of the festival, a film directed by Martin Turk, "A Good Day's Work", will be screened in the Kinoteka cinema. The screening is adapted for people with poor vision.

Admission to almost all the events is free and details of the programme can be found at the 'Ja BiH...Pet dana Sarajeva u Zagrebu' Facebook page.

The festival is being organised by the Association for the promotion of culture and art in cooperation with the Napredak cultural society in Croatia, the Napredak Cultural Centre, the Bosniak ethnic community of Zagreb, the City of Sarajevo and the City of Zagreb authorities.

More news about festivals in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, September 21, 2019 - The Gothenburg Baroque Choir and Orchestra and Croatia's Chorus Dominicalis cathedral choir opened the 49th Varaždin Baroque Evenings festival on Friday, with Sweden as the partner country.

The choir performed works by Vivaldi and Handel under the baton of Magnus Kjjelson.

Until October 1, the event, held under the auspices of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, will feature another 27 concerts in Varaždin, several other locations in Croatia and in Ptuj, Slovenia.

This is the first time the partner country is Scandinavian.

"Swedes love music, Sweden has the largest number of choirs in the world per capita, and since the group ABBA, we have been the third largest exporter of music in the world," Ambassador Diana Helen Madunić said at the opening ceremony.

The festival includes performances by several Swedish musicians such as the Renaissance ensemble Romeo & Julia Kören, the Hazelius Hedin folk duo, organist Hans Fagius, Ensemble Villancico and the Royal Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Oslo Circles baroque ensemble from Norway as well as Croatia's Project Lazarus, Responsorium, Antiphonus and the Croatian Baroque Ensemble.

The festival also brings accompanying events under the title Total Baroque which include an international flower show, a photo and sculpture exhibition by Stephan Lupino, and a gastronomy offer including baroque beer and wine.

More news about festivals in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, September 16, 2019 - The World Theatre Festival (FSK), which will be taking place at Zagreb's Croatian National Theatre (HNK) on September 25 - October 1, will include three productions by leading European stage directors, which HNK director Dubravka Vrgoč described as the best productions of this year's European and world theatre season.

The three plays are Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves, a production by Les Theatres De La Ville De Luxembourg, stage-directed by Luxembourg actress and theatre director Myriam Muller, An Enemy of the People, a play by the great Nordic writer Henrik Ibsen, stage-directed by prominent German director Thomas Ostermeier, and the project "Nachlass" by the Rimini Protokoll troupe, stage-directed by Stefan Kaegi.

This year's edition of the FSK is the 17th and over the past 16 years the event brought to Zagreb more than 60 major European and world theatre troupes, Vrgoč said.

The three plays are the best of this year's European and world production and are special in the sense that they herald new theatre trends, Vrgoč said.

More news about festivals can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, September 14, 2019 - The 23rd International Lace Festival in Lepoglava opened on Friday, with "Magical Royal Lace" as the theme and Spain as the partner country.

The event, which closes on Sunday, features lace from 16 countries, including, for the first time, from Brazil, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, as well as from 11 lace centres in Croatia.

It was opened by Defence Ministry state secretary Zdravko Jakop as the envoy of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who bestowed the Croatian Charter on the festival for its outstanding contribution to the preservation of Lepoglava lace-making, which is part of UNESCO's Intangible Heritage, and for the successful promotion of Croatia's ethnographic tradition.

Saturday is Partner County Day and visitors can learn about Spain's culture, with emphasis on the flamenco.

Ambassador Alonso Dezcallar de Mazarredo said he was honoured Spain was this year's partner country, adding that Spanish lace whose history dates back to the 15th century would be shown.

Assistant Culture Minister Davor Trupković announced that a Lace-making Museum would be opened in Lepoglava, while Tourism Ministry secretary-general Ivo Basic said such festivals were important for tourism as they nurtured culture and diversity.

More news about festivals in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, September 7, 2019 - The fifth edition of the Rendez-vous au cinema programme that promotes the French cinematography will be conducted in more than a score of cinema theatres throughout Croatia from 11 to 22 September, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) has recently reported.

This year, there will be six films, and two of them are the works of Louis Marie Malle: Elevator to the Gallows and Zazie in the Metro. Also, two are contemporary films with Mediterranean topics: Corniche Kennedy by Dominique Cabrera and Catch the Wind by Gael Morel. There is also is animated film and a documentary, Makala by Emmanuel Gras, in this programme.

Filmmaker Cabrera will arrive in Croatia for this event.

Rendez-vous au cinema is being organised by the French Institute in Croatia, HAVC and the Kino Mreža network.

More film news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, September 6, 2019 - More than 300 people from Europe who are drivers of the Italian Vespa motorcycle will gather in Zagreb this weekend for the CroVespa 2019 event.

Participants will arrive from Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic, presenting their timeless bikes, the majority of which will be vintage models.

"This is the largest gathering of Vespa fans in Croatia, but is also international in character. The first one took place in 2007 and this is the 12th gathering in a row, which is always organised by one of the 13 local Vespa clubs. It's taking place in Zagreb for the second time," Rafael Čuljak, president of the Vespa Club Croatia, has said.

The first Vespa was manufactured by Italy's Piaggio on 23 April 1946. Vespa means wasp in Italian. Aside from Italy, the motorcycle was also made in India, Indonesia, Taiwan, the UK and Spain.

More lifestyle news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, August 17, 2019 - The first edition of the Rab Film Festival (RAFF) will be held from 23 to 27 August on that northern Croatian island, with 12 feature and documentary films included in the festival's programme.

The festival will kick off with the Croatian premiere of "Les Miserables" directed by Ladj Ly. This film, which had its world premiere at the last Cannes Film Festival, is a racially charged drama set in the Paris suburb where Victor Hugo wrote his classic novel. The organisers of the RAFF have stated that the film's director Ladj Ly and lead actor Djibril Zonga, will come to Rab for the film's premiere in Croatia.

The audience will be able to watch "Sorry We Missed You" by Ken Loach as well as "Sons of Denmark" by director Ulaa Salim.

The organisers also introduce RAFF as "a festival of investigative movies and documentaries". The screening of the films will take place "several locations in the city, mostly in the charming open-air cinema. Various shows will be provided to please those who like culture-active holidays."

"The visitors will see a display of socially relevant movies and documentaries investigating the global and local issues of present days," according to the information provided on the festival's website.

More news about festivals in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, August 12, 2019 - The Liburnicon science fiction and fantasy festival will be held in the northern Adriatic resort of Opatija on August 16-18, featuring the famous US science fiction writer Tad Williams as a special guest, the event's organisers, the Kulturni Front nongovernmental organisation, has said.

Williams is one of the most translated science fiction and fantasy writers of today and his works have been translated into more than 25 languages and published in more than 17 million copies.

He gained fame with a trilogy of epic fantasy novels called Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.

The Liburnicon festival will also feature lectures by Croatian physicists and science populisers Ivica Puljak, Saša Ceci and Davor Horvatić.

The festival programme also includes thematic quizzes, creative and science workshops, open-air games and rock concerts.

Liburnicon has been held since 2006 and every year it draws more than 2,500 visitors from the country and abroad.

More news about festivals in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, July 28, 2019 - The Croatian town of Samobor, just west of Zagreb, will host the 23rd meeting of lovers of the French-made car Citroen 2CV next week.

About 3,000 of these vintage vehicles and some 8,000 people from all over Europe and other continents are expected to attend the meeting from July 30 to August 4. The meeting is organised by the Croatian 2CV Citroen Club, which is based in Samobor.

This is the first time the annual meeting is taking place in Croatia. Over the course of six days, car lovers will have a chance to exchange experiences, participate in an off-road ride and enjoy other events. Owners will also bring 200 2CVs to Zagreb's main square, Croatian 2CV Club president Goran Škrbin told Hina.

This year marks 29 years since the cessation of production of the 2CV, known in Croatia as the Spaček. International meetings of its fans have been organised biannually since 1975.

More Samobor news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, July 22, 2019 - Supertoon, the international festival of animation, starts in the coastal town of Šibenik on Monday and over the next five days it will feature 211 animated shorts from across the world, including 177 in competition.

The ninth edition of the festival includes screenings aboard a 35-metre boat.

The programme includes animation workshops for children and students, concerts, DJ sets, panels and talks with authors, a virtual reality cinema, and trips aboard the festival boat.

Organisers say their competition of animated music videos Supertune features the highest number of videos when compared with world festivals, 54, by artists such as The Beatles, De La Soul, Mitski, Run The Jewels, U2 and Beck.

Since Šibenik is known for the International Children's Festival, Supertoon pays special attention to the children's programme selection.

Supertoon also features documentaries focusing on migration and identity, and films on the pollution of the world's oceans and seas with microplastics.

Entry to all screenings on land are free.

More news about festivals in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.