August 4, 2022 - Warm August nights in Croatia are a blessing in areas where the air is clean, the surroundings are calm, and there is no light pollution. The country kids know it, rare are the activities that could match lying down with snacks and drinks to watch the Perseid meteor showers. The Croatian Astronomical Society calls for lights off to make a beatiful summer night even better.

As Glas Slavonije writes, like every summer around the memorial day of St. Lovre (August 10), the maximum activity of the Perseid meteor shower occurs. This year, according to forecasts, the maximum will occur on the night between August 11 and 12. Astronomical societies, united in the Croatian Astronomical Union, are organising various astronomical activities, because apart from the most beautiful meteor shower of the year, telescopes will be able to view Saturn and Jupiter, as well as the Moon. The Orion Astronomical Society and the Croatian Astronomical Union are inviting cities and municipalities to turn off public lighting between August 11 and 12 from midnight to morning, so that the residents can enjoy this celestial spectacle as much as possible.

“We invite all citizens to a joint observation from the location of Bajera from 10 pm, in addition to which an observation of the night sky with a telescope will be organized. As the 12^th ARLA Festival, whose theme is space, will also take place at that time, we ask the City of Đakovo to turn off public lighting on August 12 from 10 pm, in order to continue the observation from the lawn below Strossmayer Park. An average activity of about 140 meteors per hour is forecast, and the conditions for observation will be reduced by the fact that the Moon is almost full”, points out the president of the Orion Đakovo Astronomical Society, Danko Kočiš.

Kočis also provided instructions for observation. “Do not look directly at the radiant (starting point of the meteor shower), you will notice the least meteors there, no special equipment (telescopes, binoculars, etc.) is needed to observe meteors, because meteors are observed with the naked eye lying on the ground, and it is necessary to spend at least 30 minutes in the dark to allow your eyes to adapt to the night conditions. You need to move away from the area where there is lighting and light pollution into as good a darkness as possible. Also, you need a mat, a deck chair, or a sleeping bag on which you can lie down during observation”, instructs the president of the Astronomical Society Orion Đakovo, Danko Kočiš.

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April 6, 2022 – On Saturday, April 9, the annual Osijek Ferivi Half Marathon will be held, with a range of events for professional and recreational athletes alike.

As SiB writes, the citizens' race and relay race will start at 10.00 am on Ante Starčević Square, while children's races will start at 5.00 pm on the promenade of the upper Drava coast, west of the winter port. A press conference was held yesterday on the central city square in Osijek, the Ante Starčević Square, at which the 18^th Osijek Ferivi Half Marathon was announced, a traditional event that will this year take place on Saturday, April 9.

This is the largest and most visited race in the ​​Slavonia and Baranja region, which has been held since 2005 and brings together many athletes, recreationists, and other citizens who want to enjoy running through the streets of Osijek. In addition to the half marathon (21.1 kilometers), there is also a 5km citizens’ race "Are you running, lega?", as well as the men's, women's, and mixed relay races of 3 x 7 kilometres and children's races from 300 meters to 1 kilometer. The organizer of the event is the Marathon Club Hrvatski Sokol from Osijek, and the sponsors are the Osijek-Baranja County, the City of Osijek, the Tourist Board of the City of Osijek, and the Croatian Red Cross.

"The pandemic finally allowed us to gather in large numbers and continue to socialize outdoors through running, cycling, walking, and other sports. I urge our citizens to come to the race because the contemporary lifestyle means a lot of sitting and using cars or public transport, so we need to practice sports. I am sure that everyone who runs the race for the first time will be excited for the next Osijek Ferivi Half Marathon," said the prefect Ivan Anušić.

The citizens' race and the relay race will be starting at 10.00 am on Ante Starčević Square, while the children's races will start at 5.00 pm on the promenade of the upper Drava coast, west of the winter port. More than 1,250 competitors have already registered, not only from Croatia but from 10 other countries (USA, Sweden, Norway, Serbia, Slovenia, Northern Macedonia, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina).

The Osijek Ferivi Half Marathon is not just a sporting event, but a combination of sports, entertainment, culture, and tourism, and contributes to the branding of Osijek. What is especially enriching about this event is that not only athletes but also recreational athletes take part, and even more so that children do. The city will continue to support this event", said the mayor of Osijek Ivan Radić.

He added that Osijek cares about its athletes and sports facilities and that this year Osijek will acquire a real Olympic swimming pool (at the Copacabana pools) for the first time, as well as introduce scholarships for athletes of the 5th and 6th categories while striving to raise sports and recreation to a higher level.

The Osijek Ferivi Half Marathon is an event that has been organized by the Marathon Club Hrvatski Sokol since the first race. The Club entered into a partnership with Ferivi & Co d.o.o. in 2008. and the race has since been called the Osijek Ferivi Half Marathon. Last year, the event had a record number of participants and outstanding accompanying content.

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The first Nordic walking festival will take place in Varaždinska county on March 23rd, organized by the Nordic Walking Association Drava Varaždin, with their partners the County, the County's Tourist Board and Croatian Nordic Walking Association.

Nordic walking is one of the terms used for fitness walking using specially designed poles - and that's why sometimes it's also called pole walking. The main advantage of the discipline is the fact that Nordic walkers use more of their entire body, thus receiving fitness stimulation not present in normal walking in their upper bodies.

The idea of the festival is to bring together the promotion of the Nordic walking in Croatia and the promotion of the natural beauty and tradition and heritage of the most interesting sites in the Varaždin County. One of the reasons the first festival will be held in Trakošćan is to also commemorate World Water Day, a day when international community should think about the goal of making fresh water available to everyone on Earth by 2030.

Natalija Martinčević, head of Varaždin County Tourist Board says that the County is always ready for new ideas to expand what they have to offer to tourists and that it's important to bring together the tourism, natural beauty and heritage of the County, and combining all of that with health through Nordic walking is an excellent approach. Just about everyone can participate in Nordic walking, members of all generations and entire families together, so the Festival is a great opportunity for families to spend time outdoors, at the beginning of the spring - in wonderful Trakošćan.

The event will start at 9 am, with the registration of the walkers, a welcome drink, and warm-up and stretching exercises for all. After that, the walks will start, and there will be 4 routes to pick from, based on your level of fitness: you can either join the group doing two laps around the Trakošćan lake (10 km), one lap (5 km), half a lap (2.5 km) or beginner's walk around the castle. All participants and their families can purchase tickets to the castle at a 50% discount, and after all walkers are finished, a guided tour of the castle will take place. If you register for the event until March 18th, you will also be getting lunch at Trakošćan (included in your entry fee). To enter the event, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you plan to do any outdoor activities in Croatia this spring, you should be aware of one thing: ticks in Croatia have "woken up" much earlier in the year than it's customary, so even these days, in mid-March, you should be prepared to fight them while outdoors.

The winter was extremely mild (some would say that the winter in Croatia this year was, in fact, non-existent, we just went from prolonged autumn to early spring), and those warm temperatures have increased the activities of the nasty ticks out there. That led to the first case of Lyme disease to be recorded in Croatia already, happening in Primorsko-goranska county. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection, transmitted by the bite of an infected tick, and can usually be treated by a course of antibiotics. It is, however, important to recognize the symptoms of the disease as soon as possible, so it's important to be aware of the unusual activity of ticks in Croatia this early in the season.

Lyme disease is not the only tick-borne disease you should be wary of, there are several other diseases transmitted to humans by ticks, but also every pet (especially dog) owner knows that their dogs should also be protected from ticks, as they can also get Lyme disease. So, if you plan to spend time outdoors in Croatia this spring, you should wear appropriate clothing (long sleeves and pant legs), shows that don't leave a lot of skin unprotected, and of course, repellents for your pets. As soon as possible, as you're out of the literal and metaphorical woods, get out of the clothes you wore while outdoors, take a shower and do a check to see if any ticks managed to latch on. Washing the clothes ASAP will take care of any ticks that might be hidden somewhere in there, if possible. If you find a tick somewhere on you, remove it with tweezers and put some antiseptic on the bite. Make sure you keep an eye on the bite location for a few days and see a doctor if anything unusual appears on the site.

If you are the outdoorsy type that likes hanging at the edge of a rock, sleeping in tents under an ant farm, or just think its cool to have a belt-load of practical gadgets around your waist, Iglu Sports is a great little store that stocks all you need for rock climbing, hiking, and camping so you can adopt that Robinson Crusoe lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of.

Matošića 3, Split

T: +385 (0)21 343 423

Open Mon-Fri 9am – 8pm; Sat 9am to 12 noon.