October 11, 2022 - Has autumn convinced you to visit the east of Croatia? Not that we blame you if you've decided to spend these warm days on the coast. If you are among the ones who have decided to witness the colours, sights and smells of autumn in the eastern parts of Croatia, though, you might be looking for something to do other than let the beauty of the area make you fall head over heels for it. We're bringing an overview of events for a fun, joyful, maybe educational weekend in eastern Croatia.

Friday, October 14, Slavonski Brod: BrodTech Cafe

If you find yourself in or near Slavonski Brod, the Association of ICT businesses of the city, Connect-IT is organising the first edition of BrodTech Cafe, an evening gathering with topics about technology, marketing and entrepreneurship on Friday, October 14 starting at 7 pm. Their guest will be Marijan Palić, author of the hit book Atomic Marketing, which was the best-selling marketing book in Croatia in 2019. Marijan is a top expert in digital marketing and head of marketing at Notch Agency (ex Agency04). Marijan will present the best examples from practice in marketing, sports marketing, SEO and will be happy to open a discussion on those topics. All you need is some good will, and the entrance is free. The first lecture is organised through the Marketing Lab project in cooperation with the Connect IT Association. Find the event here.

Brod-Posavina County and Udruga Lima

Friday, October 14, Vukovar: Goran Vinčić "Dežurni Krivac"

If you're looking for a chill evening and some laughs in Vukovar, try stand up comedy in Hrvatski Dom. Starting at 8 pm, Goran Vinčić is bringing his "Dežurni Krivac" (Culprit on Duty) show. As stated in the event, Goran Vinčić Vinča is practical proof that it is not wise to connect the Tasmanian Devil to three-phase electricity. The most energetic comedian of the Balkan stand-up scene, a master of crowdwork and improvisation, a massive Slavonian who sings, acts, talks, recites, animates... above all, he is the culprit of laughter! In his play "Dežurni Krivac" he will talk about everything - love, marriage, grandmothers, Slavonians, sex, narodnjaci and Eros Ramazzotti.

Entry: HRK 50
? Tickets can be purchased at the box office of Hrvatski Dom Vukovar - weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 hours before the start of the show.
INFO and RESERVATIONS:
☎️ 032/450-679

Hrvatski Dom Vukovar

Friday, October 14 - Saturday, October 15, Vukovar: Days of Astronomy

The Astronomy Association Vukovar has partnered up with the City, as well as the Night Sky School of Astronomy, to organise a weekend of learning and fun for all ages. On both days, mornings and early afternoons are reserved for lectures and workshops on how to observe the sky and observing the sun with a telescope, while the afternoon and evening lecutures and workshops will focus on what is currently going on in space, the importance of astronomy for the Vučedol culture, and the visitors will get a chance to observe the planets Jupiter and Saturn on both evenings. The special guests include the astronomer Ante Radonić and the archaeologist professor Aleksandar Durman. The lectures and workshops will take place at the Vukovar Municipal Museum.

Astronomsko Društvo Vukovar

Friday , October 14 - Sunday, October 16, Osijek: 25^th Osijek Autumn Fair

For a quarter of a century, an extremely interesting and rich fair event has been taking place - the Osijek Autumn Fair, with a programme filled with exhibitions, lectures and workshops. The exhibition and sales programme includes goods and services from the fields of agriculture, food, crafts, construction and housing, with a special emphasis on domestic, autochthonous products of the region.
In addition to that, Honey Breakfast will take place on Friday, for the purpose of promoting the production and consumption of honey from Croatian apiaries, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, HAPIH, the Bee Association, the Cultural Centre and the Hospitality and Tourism School, followed by a lecture on beekeeping organised by the Bee Association - the oldest beekeeping association - with 145 years of existence in this part of Europe. Workshops with the board game "Land of Risk", will explain and familiarise students with the basic concepts of risks and how each individual can participate in reducing risks and preserving nature and the environment, organised by the MUP. The entrance to the Fair is free, and the full programme can be found here.

Osječki Sajam

Saturday, October 15, Pakrac: 13^th Edition of Slavonski Banovac Fair

A medieval festival, an archery tournament, a knight's fight and a fireshow will take you back in time at the Slavonski Banovac Fair.
Along with the gastronomic offer from the "Kod Veprove Glave" tavern, there will be a traditional bean stew cooking competition - Grahfest, and after the announcement of the winner, good music will follow, courtesy of the band Pravila Igre. This day od medieval and modern entertainment, spiced up with traditional food and good fun starts at 10 am on Saturday, in the Matica Hrvatska street and at the Pakrac market. Full programme to be found here.

Požega-Slavonia County Tourist Board

Sunday, October 16 - Monday, October 17, Đakovo: 260^th anniversary of the birth of Johann Petrus Jakob Haibel 

If you are looking for something a little different and would like to spend evenings listening to classical music, give Đakovo a chance and attend the event marking 260 years since the birth of Johann Petrus Jakob Haibel, a famed tenor and composer. Concerts will be held on both evenings in the Monastery Church of the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross in Đakovo, while lectures and a film screening "Jakob Haibel - Mozart's Brother-in-Law in Đakovo" will take place in Đakovo's secondary schools and associations. The event has been organised the Kreativna Kulturna Mreža, an NGO for interdisciplinary projects in culture, arts and science. Find the full programme here.

MIT Dizajn studio Osijek

Hopefully you can find something that is to your taste and enjoy a weekend of fun, education, relaxation, or all three.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Travel section.

July the 2nd, 2021 - The Croatian events industry has finally been given the green light to gradually return to some form of normal, following a horrendous period of uncertainty and depression as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but at what cost?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, 100 people are allowed to be gathered together following yesterday's new changes, and even more people can come together if they have their digital certificates. This will finally facilitate the holding of various business and entertainment events, but provisions are in force that will significantly affect the financial structure of participants and organisers.

When it comes to the Croatian events industry, particularly business events, such as conferences and the like, it is still forbidden to set up sponsor stands, which is important for the income of the events. When it comes to ''fun'' events, clubbing will be a very expensive thing to engage in for guests this summer, because when entering each of these events they will need to prove that they have been vaccinated or pay for a fresh covid test each time.

As of July the 1st, the application of EU digital certificates for travel within the European Union also officially started, but the freedom of travel that these certificates were supposed to bring has already been called into question, as some countries have introduced quarantines due to the emergence of the Delta virus strain, rendering those apparently now somewhat empty promises void.

New rules

As is now known, new epidemiological measures to prevent the transmission of the novel coronavirus, which mostly concerns gatherings and public events, came into force in Croatia on the 1st of July, 2021. As of that date, a ban on holding all public events and gatherings attended by more than 100 people in one place is in force, unless it is a public event or gathering attended only by persons with an EU digital covid certificate and with permission from the powers that be.

Public events and gatherings and ceremonies of all kinds may last until midnight, unless it is a public event or gathering attended only by persons with a covid certificate. The rules on the sale of alcohol remains in force, and catering and hospitality facilities will only be allowed to serve guests if they're seated. Facilities registered as night clubs, night bars, disco bars and disco clubs from the category of bars are allowed to work and serve all guests without restrictions on working hours, but only in open spaces and provided that entry to their premises is allowed only to persons who present a covid certificate.

Conferences and congresses attended by up to 100 people may be held in compliance with all of the current anti-epidemic measures, but the suspension of fairs and other forms of economic and tourist events or events where products are sold, exhibited or displayed indoors remains in force. This is exactly the provision for which the Croatian events industry and various event organisers have been trying to get an exemption over recent days.

"It's good that we can finally work with more than 25 people, which was valid until July the 1st for our industry, while, let's say, cultural events had much more relaxed measures, although these are very similar forms of gatherings. A significant problem, however, is that we won't be allowed to have sponsor stands, which can easily be organised in compliance with all of the measures. We've warned the representatives of the Ministry of Tourism several times about this, and they're our address in communication with the National Civil Protection Headquarters, but so far we haven't received any response from the Ministry,'' revealed Jasmina Bilac, President of the Business Tourism Association at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

In the entertainment industry, more or less all guests will have to pay for covid tests, because many younger people still haven't managed to get vaccinated.

Boris Suljic, the owner of the clubs on Zrce beach, points out that Novalja has prepared for that, and organised a kiosk for rapid tests that will be carried out by the Medico health institution from Rijeka.

“Entry to clubs will be possible for those who have proof that they've been vaccinated, have a negative test or have proof of having recovered. We've prepared at Zrce with a kiosk for rapid tests for guests, and so we'll function like that in the next fifteen days. Namely, until then, these measures are valid, we don't know what will happen next, and this lack of certainty continues to be the biggest issue for us,'' stated Suljic.

At more or less 100 kuna for a rapid antigen test for each entrance to the club, 550 kuna for a PCR test and 650 kuna for a rapid PCR test, guests aren't going to be particularly happy with this summer's offer from the Croatian events industry, which has been among the worst affected.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

June the 11th, 2021 - The controversial issue of Croatian ''covid passports'' is being talked about more and more lately. As decisions surrounding their implementation begin, could attending Croatian events only with the presentation of a valid vaccination document become a reality? The topic is already being discussed surrounding football match spectators.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the European Parliament voted on the introduction of digital covid-certificates yesterday, which will be in official use throughout the European Union from the 1st of July, 2021. Croatia has already introduced this certificate in its own national system, and in one single week, despite many issues, more than 100 thousand people successfully had theirs approved for use.

In addition to making the process far easier when crossing EU borders as the pandemic continues, the plan is for this certificate to serve as proof of having overcome COVID-19, having been vaccinated or having a negative PCR test for other purposes, such as entering Croatian events such as concerts.

As the Croatian events sector is finally beginning to feel some optimism after a long time, and it seems that covid-check verification will be integrated into the ticket sales process.

"Yesterday we did an analysis and we saw that in the last month the number of tickets sold is three times higher compared to the same period last year. This shows some serious optimism,'' said Berislav Marszalek, the owner of the platform for the mediation in ticket sales for RTL Danas/Today.

There will soon be more optimism because the ''old way'' of attending Croatian events such as performances and concerts is closer than ever to returning. In that sense, without needing to adhere to epidemiological measures, people will be able to attend as they did before the pandemic, as long as they have proof of their recovery from the disease, proof of vaccination or proof of having a negative PCR test result. A person's digital covid certificate will be scanned along with their ticket.

“The goal is to integrate the tickets, meaning checking those tickets with checking those covid passes so that the process is quick, easy and in all done one place. We don't want to slow down the process further at the entrance,'' explained Marszalek.

This is a proposal from the Croatian events industry that has been sent to the Croatian Institute of Public Health through the Ministry of Culture. The first rehearsal concert without measures has already been arranged, but the options for its realisation are still on the table.

"There were, in accordance with the conversations we had with the community, some proposals for a concert at Jarun, or one at the Zagreb Arena. Exactly where and what the first concert will look like is hard to say now. What does it depend on? This primarily depends on our talks with the CNIPH on when we'll be ready to register these covid passes,'' said Kresimir Partl, State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture and Media.

A decision by the end of the week?

“The National Civil Protection Directorate is currently considering passing these national rules for the use of digital covid certification and I guess we'll have some sort of national solution for that by the end of the week and then we'll be able to discuss where and how the concerts would be organised. I hope that we'll know something more about it on Friday,'' said the director of the CNIPH, Krunoslav Capak.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.