April 26, 2022 - The songs and performers at the 62nd Split Festival, held at the beginning of July at Prokurative in Split, have been announced! 

At this year's 62nd music event, in addition to the final evening of new songs, the program will also include a retro evening and an exclusive Split Festival opening concert. On July 3, the final evening, some of the biggest names in the music scene will perform new songs alongside young musicians and songwriters who are given the opportunity to embrace one of the most beautiful stages, reports Dalmacija Danas. 

After an intensive, multi-day, and exhaustive listening to three hundred songs received for the competition, the Split Festival artistic jury consisting of Eduard Gracin, head of the music department of Radio Split, Katarina Perišić, music editor of Radio Dalmatia, professor Nenad Šiškov, composer, producer and arranger, Jelena Vlačić, and composer and director of the Split Festival Tomislav Mrduljaš, has selected the performers and songs that will be featured at the 62nd Split Festival, the most important festival of popular music in Croatia.

Twenty-five songs have been selected to be performed at Prokurative this year.

1. ADIO LJUBAVI (Goran Karan-Nenad Ninčević-Nikša Bratoš) 4 TENORA
2. BUDIŠ ME (Marko Kutlić-Marko Kutlić/Aleksandar Čubrilo-Antonio David Perina) MARKO KUTLIĆ
3. DALMATINAC ZAUVIK (Marija Mirković-Alka Vuica-Hrvoje Domazet) MATE GRGAT
4. FORTUNATA (Lea Dekleva-Lea Dekleva-Nikša Bratoš) DANIJELA
5. JEDNO BEZ DRUGOGA (Tonći Huljić-Vjekoslava Huljić-Tonći Huljić/Hrvoje Domazet) LORENA
6. JOŠ BI TIJA (Rajko Dujmić-Nenad Ninčević-Igor ivanović) TOMISLAV BRALIĆ & KLAPA INTRADE
7. JUBE MOJA ZNAJ (Neno Belan-Nikša Sviličić-Neno Belan) NENO BELAN
8. KAD SE RODIŠ USRID SPLITA (Branimir Mihaljević-Mario Mihaljević-Branimir Mihaljević) LUKA NIŽETIĆ
9. LIP KA DALMACIJA (A.K.Leo-Fayo-Branimir Mihaljević) LIDIJA BAČIĆ
10. LIPO MI JE TU (Pero Kozomara-Sanja Tafra-Leo Škaro) KLAPA RIŠPET
11. LJUBAVI PROMIJENIT ĆEMO IME (Ante Pecotić-Ante Pecotić-Bojan Šalomon Shalla) MARKO TOLJA
12. LUDO SRCE (Toni Lasan-Bratislav Zlatanović/Siniša Vuco-Toni Lasan) WILLY FAMILY
13. MOŽDA NEKOG VOLIŠ (Vinko Barčot-Vinko Barčot-Leo Škaro) TEDI SPALATO
14. NE DA MI PISMA (Goran Karan-Goran Karan-Nikša Bratoš) GORAN KARAN
15. ONA MI NEDOSTAJE (Fedor Boić-Nenad Ninčević-Fedor Boić) JASMIN STAVROS
16. PARTENCA (Siniša Garbin/Pavle Sviličić-Siniša Garbin-P. Sviličić/D.Pjanić/J.Ivelić) MJESNI ODBOR
17. PJESMA ZA KRAJ (Vlaho Arbulić-Vlaho Arbulić) MARKO BOŠNJAK
18. SA MNOM (Ines Prajo-Arijana Kunštek-Ivan Popeskić) IVO PERKUŠIĆ
19. SJEĆANJE (Suzana Štefanić-Robert Pilepić-Elvis Stanić) IBRICA
20. SVE ŠTO TREBAM (Vinko Barčot-Vinko Barčot-Leo Škaro) IVAN IVE ŽUPANOVIĆ
21. TAKO NEDOSTAJEŠ (MaTune Music-MaTune Music-Goran Kovačić) STJEPAN LACH
22. VILO MOJA SVA U BILOM (Ljubo Šeperić Luppo-Nenad Ninčević-Mario Mikšić) MLADEN GRDOVIĆ
23. VOLJELI SMO JEDNO DRUGO (Raay-Nenad Ninčević-Leo Škaro) IVANA KOVAČ
24. ZA TEBE BISERE NOSIM (Rudolf Dvorski-Rudolf Dvorski-Ivan Popeskić) IVICA SIKIRIĆ IĆO
25. ZAGRLI ME (Hari Rončević-Hari Rončević-Hari Rončević/Albert Limić) HARI RONČEVIĆ

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

October 9, 2021 - To promote Split and Dalmatia as a leading Mediterranean food, wine, and travel destination, the Taste the Mediterranean Festival headed over to Radmanove Mlinice, Arsana Tasting House, and Cetina river canyon for an authentic experience of Croatian Mediterranean identity and traditional Dalmatian gastronomy.

The TTM Festival is finishing strong. For the last day of the 4-day festival, the participants departed from Briig Boutique Hotel in Split at 9:30 am and arrived safely in Omiš and were received by Arsana Tasting House. There, they were greeted with traditional food and wine including soparnik, prosciutto, and Dalmatian wines Pribidrag from Vinarija Mimica and Debit from Vinarija Ante Sladić. 

Naturally, visiting Omiš would not be complete without exploring the Cetina river. The gloomy weather did not stop the guests from having a wonderful time in one of the most beautiful attractions in Dalmatia - the beautiful canyon of the Cetina river. "Even the rain couldn't spoil the spirit of our chefs", said one of the event coordinators.

To fully experience the rich history of Dalmatian cuisine, TTM headed over to the famous restaurant Radmanove Mlinice where they were treated with traditional Croatian food from appetizer to dessert. The menu consisted of fritule (Dalmatian fritters), fried frog legs with tartar sauce, salted and marinated anchovies, olives, and white-wine braised octopus with olive oil, garlic, and parsley. Since a traditional Dalmatian meal would not be complete without serving peka, the restaurant served veal "peka" (under the lid) with potatoes and salad as this afternoon's special main course. Radmanove Mlinice also showed the invited guests and chefs how traditional homemade bread is prepared using peka. 

Since two of the main goals of the TTM festival are the exchange of experiences with other Mediterranean countries and education for students and professionals in the hospitality and restaurant industry, chef Ippei Uemura of Tabi Restaurant, Marseille, who won the Young Talent of the Year Gault & Millau France also conducted a masterclass for the students of Jure Kaštelan High School in Omiš.

After a fun day outside of Split, the TTM Festival team returned back to Split to prepare for the last part of the programme which includes exclusive dinners in restaurants Zrno Soli which will be hosted by chef Stjepan Vukadin and Zora Bila which will be hosted by Chefs Sandra and Dane Tahirović. The exclusive dinner specials of TTM Festival were proven to be a hit and were enjoyed by all attendees. 

Also as part of the Taste the Mediterranean festival, the Split Restaurant Nights runs until tonight. This event offers tourists and locals special 3-course Mediterranean-Dalmatian menus including wine which is offered at promotional prices in 15 participating restaurants. The restaurants include Restaurants Atlantida, Bajamonti, Brasserie on 7, Bokeria, Corto Maltese, Dujkin dvor, Fantažija, Konoba Fetivi, Konoba Marul, Laganini, Mazzgoon, Pandora Greenbox, Portofino, Sidi bar and Šug.

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October 8, 2021 - What better way to start the day than with a taste of handmade chocolates?  Thankfully, the Taste the Mediterranean Food Festival brings one of the best chocolatiers of France - Maitre artisan chocolatier Claude Krajner to Split. A look into his masterclass with 15 aspiring culinary students from Aspira University College.

The day was sweeter than usual in the building of Aspira University College where the brilliant creator of Le temps d'un chocolat in Marseilles, France, chocolatier Claude Krajner, conducted a special cooking workshop with students from Aspira University College. The class was eagerly attended by at least 15 culinary students and was organised by TTM Festival in cooperation with Aspira. Since Claude is French with Croatian descent, the workshop was held in French and Croatian. 

Photography by: Princess Prkić

Claude Krajner received the title Maitre Artisan Chocolatier in 2015 and is recognisably one of the best chocolatiers in France. He is also a member of the prestigious Academie Nationale de Cuisine and Disciples Escoffier International. His passion for artisan chocolates began at an early age so he naturally pursued the culinary world and built his experience from working in the best restaurants in Paris and later on proceeded to the Canary Islands where he worked at Les Moulins de Paris in Lanzarote as a pastry chef. Chef Claude is also a permanent lecturer at Villa des Chefs, a highly-regarded culinary school in Aix en Provence where short courses and masterclasses are regularly offered by famous chefs and confectioners. The famous chocolatier also creates personalised chocolate products for big companies including Swarovsky, Palais des Thes, and Kartell. Since 2010, Claude Krajner has served as Vice-president of Chocolatiers et Biscuitiers de France - French masters in the art of chocolate and dry cookie making. 

Photography by: Princess Prkić

The masterclass was not just a theoretical lecture, but the culinary students of Aspira were also hands-on in assisting the guest chef. At 4 PM today, Tonči Drije, the head of gastronomy and practical workshops at Aspira University College will also take part in "Learn and Make Your Dreams Come True", a panel event by TTM Festival, in Briig Boutique Hotel. This event was organised by Mediterranean Women Chefs, an international group dedicated to improving the role of women in gastronomy. Other panelists include pastry chef Tea Mamut of Patisserie O'š Kolač, Split, chef Deni Srdoč of restaurant Nebo Hilton, head of Raise the Bar Academy Kruno Rozič, and chef Nikolina Putica.

Photography by: Princess Prkić

As part of the Taste the Mediterranean festival, French chocolatier Claude Krajner will also be a guest chef in an exclusive dinner hosted by chef Stjepan Vukadin of restaurant Zrno Soli which boasts a Michelin plate and 3 Gault & Millau toques. Other guest chefs include Chef Anastasios Paraskevaidis of restaurant Hotel Mount Athos in Ierissos, Greece, and Chef Jure Tomič of restaurant Debeluh in Brežice, Slovenia. 

To learn more about the festival's special events, follow TTM festival's Instagram page.

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For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

October 7, 2021 - The 4-day International Food Festival Taste the Mediterranean officially kicked off last night and was attended by many prominent personalities including Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanović, Split Mayor Ivica Puljak, screenwriter/director Nikola Kuprešanin and top chefs from 8 Mediterranean countries!

Despite heavy rain, the opening of the TTM Festival was a huge success. The famous Split fish market was almost unrecognisable as chef Zlatko Marinović and his excellent team from the restaurant Noštromo magically transformed the usually sooty place to a sophisticated dinner venue. The participants and invited guests were greeted with welcome drinks featuring The Botanist's handcrafted vermouth and crisp sparkling wine with a generous selection of decadent amuse bouche featuring Adriatic oysters and sea eggs.

Photography: Princess Prkić

The dinner gala began by introducing the participating chefs together with Split Mayor Ivica Puljak. The invited chefs are from Croatia, Spain, France and other Mediterranean countries whose restaurants have been awarded with Michelin stars, recommendations, and Gault & Millau toques. These chefs will also grace the festival with their cooking, masterclasses, and special panel discussions. Afterwards, the participants and guests were treated with a special 6-course menu prepared by Chef Marinović and paired with carefully selected wines from the Krauthaker wine cellar in Slavonia. The dinner ended with a serving of Adria grappa, a special grappa made of Adriatic sea herbs and apple.

The festival will run until Saturday and will hold many events such as Spanish and Italian wine tasting, exclusive dinners in various Split restaurants, cooking masterclasses for professionals and culinary students, and special workshops and panels at Briig Boutique Hotel in Bačvice. You may find out more details on the festival here. 

The coming days in Split will be filled with gastronomic delights as 15 restaurants chose to participate in the first Split Restaurant Nights, a part of the Taste the Mediterranean Festival, in which the participating restaurants will offer 3-course meals and wines at a promotional price from October 8 to October 9 to locals and tourists. The participating restaurants include Atlantida, Bajamonti, Brasserie on 7, Bokeria, Corto Maltese, Dujkin Dvor, Fantažija, Konoba Fetivi, Konoba Marul, Mazgoon, Laganini, Pandora Greenbox, Portofino, Sidi bar and Šug. To find out more on Split Restaurant Nights' exclusive and special offers, CLICK HERE.

For more about Taste the Mediterranean Festival, CLICK HERE.

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For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

ZAGREB, 13 June, 2021 - The 14th Mediterranean Film Festival begins in Split on 17 June with the screening of the Turkish feature film "When I'm Done Dying" by Bir Nefes Daha and the Croatian documentary "Split" by Renata Poljak.

The opening ceremony will take place at the summer cinema theatre "Bačvice". The other venue of the festival is the Dom Mladih (Youth Centre).

The programme of the festival, which runs through 26 June, includes films from Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Romania, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Montenegro, France, Côte d'Ivoire, Slovenia, Morocco, Malta and Palestine, as well as Croatia.

For more on lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

June 26, 2020 - We are a little more than two weeks away from the Jubilee 60th Split Festival at Prokurative, which began its story back in 1960.

Slobodna Dalmacija writes that over a time that includes the Homeland War, as well as many other social turbulences, the festival has spawned more than two thousand songs and many great hits ("Nima Splita do Splita", "Moj galebe", "Picaferaj", "Skalinada", "Ne diraj moju ljubav", etc). It seems that, as things stand now, not even the coronavirus pandemic will not stop the cult festival.

Director Tomislav Mrduljaš says that everything is ready for July 11 and 12, when a retro evening with hits that marked the past decades of the festival should be held, interpreted by the best performers from the Croatian stage, and finally an evening of new songs.

Twenty-two songs have been selected, some of which were written during the recent quarantine in March and April. Some of the musicians you'll be able to see at Prokurative are Neno Belan, Jole, Goran Karan, Ibrica Jusić, Mladen Grdović, Klapa "Rišpet", Alen Nižetić, Teddy Spalato, Giuliano, Petar Dragojevic, Marko Tolja, and Frajle from Serbia. 

HRT will broadcast everything live, starting at 9:30 pm, as it has in previous years. However, given the re-emergence of the coronavirus, the question is whether there will be any changes, which Mrduljaš is aware of. All of his plans, unfortunately, are still up in the air.

"We regularly monitor the entire situation, measures and instructions of our National Headquarters and we will act in accordance with them. So far, there are no changes, the production is going according to plan and we are not thinking about postponing the date, but we are very organized. Of course, I'm not happy about everything that is happening with the corona again, but I can guarantee that we will hold the festival in safe conditions and that no one will be endangered," Mrduljaš points out and adds that the festival orchestra of 30 to 35 people will be on the spectacular stage, as well as four backing vocals.

"All of them will be separated from each other as prescribed by the measures. There are no stands this year, and we decided to put round tables with chairs. In total, we will be able to accommodate up to 500 spectators, and we have also organized this in a way that respects the spacing. It may happen that the operation of catering facilities will be banned again, so it is possible that this won't happen, but it is difficult at this moment to predict what will happen," says Mrduljaš.

In that case, it is easily possible for the Split Festival to be held without an audience, or a scene of visitors with protective masks on their faces awaits us, but everything will be clearer in the days ahead.

"We listen to the news day by day, the performers call me, some of them are worried, but we hope that everything will be fine, there is no reason to panic... I repeat, we will behave as we are told. The plan was to symbolically mark the beginning of some kind of tourist season in Split, for our local people to come, even those outside Split. Let them be convinced that they can spend their summers in our beautiful Dalmatia in safe conditions," concluded Tomislav Mrduljaš.

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June 2, 2020 - The songs and performers of the 60th Split Festival, which will take place at the beginning of July at Prokurative, have been revealed. At this year's jubilee music event, in addition to an evening of new compositions, the program will also have a retro component. 

Dalmatinski Portal writes that as usual, some of the biggest names in the music scene will sing their news songs at the Split Festival, and young musicians and authors who have a successful career ahead of them will have the opportunity to feel the charms of one of the most beautiful stages. Last year's winners Goran Karan and Tedi Spalato return this year, but this time each with their own song. Neno Belan and Zorana Kačić Čatipović will sing together in a duet, while the event will also feature the faithful Tomislav Bralić and Klapa Intrade, the unique Hari, Giuliano, Mladen Grdović, Klapa Rišpet and Alen Nižetić.

After last year's duet and success with Mio Dimšić, Marko Tolja returns to Prokurative this year with his own song. Jole, Ivo Perkušić and The Frajle will also present themselves to the audience with a new composition, and young singers Filomena and Adriana will make their debut.

The musical jury, composed of Eduard Gracin, head of the music department of Radio Split, Katarina Perišić, head of the music department of Radio Dalmatia, professor Nenad Šiškov, composer, producer and arranger, professor Jasminko Šetka and composer and director of the Split festival Tomislav Mrduljaš, given the number of songs received, had a great responsibility to choose the 22 compositions that will be performed at this year's Split Festival.

You can find the list of songs below:

1. BUDI ČOVJEK (Robert Grubišić-Robert Pilepić) IBRICA

2. ČAROBNA STVAR (Neno Belan-Alka Vuica) NENO BELAN & ZORANA KAČIĆ ČATIPOVIĆ
3. DOĐI, UZMI DUŠU (Marko Kutlić-Aleksandar Čubrilo) ADRIANA
4. DUGO NISAM BIO MLAD (Goran Karan) GORAN KARAN
5. FALI MENI ONA (Pero Kozomara-Sanja Tafra) JOLE
6. IDEM JUGU SVOM (Hari Rončević) HARI RONČEVIĆ
7. IZDALO ME MORE (Filomena Puljiz/Josip Grgantov-Filomena Puljiz) FILOMENA
8. KAD DUŠA BOLI (Mladen Grdović-Nenad Ninčević) MLADEN GRDOVIĆ
9. KAKO SAMO MATER ZNA (Tonći Huljić-Vjekoslava Huljić) LORENA
10. MAKA MAKA (Pero Kozomara-Lući Tukić) KLAPA RIŠPET
11. MENI TRIBA MIRNO MORE (Boris Oštrić) BORIS OŠTRIĆ & RIBARI
12. NE ZAMIRI VILO (Tedi Spalato-Nenad Ninčević) TEDI SPALATO
13. NEMA BOLJE (Ines Prajo-Arijana Kunštek) IVO PERKUŠIĆ
14. NIJE DOVOLJNO (Marko Matijević Sekul/Maja Kolarić/Boris Kolarić) ČIVRO
15. O TEBI OVISAN (Marko Tolja) MARKO TOLJA
16. OSTAJEM TU (Vinko Barčot) TOMISLAV BRALIĆ & KLAPA INTRADE
17. PISMA SPLITA (Želimir Škarpona/Dalibor Musap-Nedo Zuban) TENORI DALMACIJE
18. PJEVA MI SE ALI NEMAM S KIM (Branimir Mihaljević-Nenad Ninčević) GIULIANO
19. SAMO MI SE JAVI (Fedor Boić-Nenad Ninčević) ALEN NIŽETIĆ
20. SVE DO KRAJA (Jasminko Šetka-Ružana Kovač) KLAPA PRASKA
21. TO NE MOGU PODNIT (Darko Bakić) PETAR DRAGOJEVIĆ
22. VOLI ME GODINAMA (Marija Mirković) FRAJLE

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Are you curious to see who will perform at the highly anticipated Split Festival? 

The Split Festival returns this summer to Prokurative for the 57th edition.