June 4, 2023 - Zadar is the Croatian basketball champion for the fourth time in the club's history after defeating Split in three games in the finals. 

On Sunday, after two away victories, Zadar celebrated at home, at the "Krešimir Ćosić" hall. Without any drama, Zadar convincingly won 99-62 (27-17, 24-9, 18-10, 30-26), leaving Split without a chance at the championship title.

This was the eighth final Split has lost. However, Zadar still holds the record in this area, losing the finals twelve times in the club's history. Cibona still holds the record in Croatia with 20 championship titles, while Cedevita Zagreb has won the title five times. 

This season's final series was a replay of the finals two years ago when Zadar and Split met. Zadar was also better then. 

Sunday's game was already decided after the first half. Zadar won the first quarter 27-17, and then further increased their advantage and went to halftime leading 51-26. There was no coming back for the Split team. In the third quarter, Zadar was ahead by more than 30 points, and in the last quarter, they were up by 40. 

Luka Božić was Zadar's hero, recording a triple-double performance with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. He also had three steals. Dario Drežnjak scored 19 points, Arijan Lakić added 13 with five rebounds, and Marko Ramljak 10 points and five rebounds.

Tonko Vuko was the best for Split with 11 points, and Boris Tišma scored eight with six rebounds and three assists.

Source: HRT 

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

May 30, 2023 - Dolphins are a regular and welcome sight in Croatia's Adriatic Sea, especially when they dance to the world-famous Zadar Sea Organ.

A nice surprise for visiting tourist Alejandro yesterday morning, which he kindly shared with the TCN inbox. And proof that Croatia in the early morning can be truly magical. 

Standing by the famous Zadar Sea Organ to capture sunrise and the start to another day in Paradise, Alejandro was joined by the tunes emitted from the sea organ by two dolphins, who put on a show for him and his capture. Alejandro put the footage on YouTube and invited us to share. 

A great start to the day. 

If you are on a boat trip on the Adriatic this summer, do look out for the playful dolphins. I have lost count of the number I saw playing with tourist boats on the short ride from Jelsa on Hvar to Bol on Brac, for example. 

May 31, 2023 - Zadar Burger Festival is starting this weekend! From June 2 to June 11, King Petar Krešimir IV Coast will be the stage of the most popular burger festival in the region, organized by the creative agency Kokoš ili Jaje, a team of passionate gourmets and event masters who, among other things, created Fuliranje and the Burger Festival in Zagreb.

As Antena Zadar writes, this is the most relevant and most visited regional street food festival, annually welcoming about 150,000 visitors who eat more than 40,000 burgers and drink 15,000 liters of beer over the 11 days. In the six years it has taken place, this Burger Festival has greatly contributed to the development of the burger scene, significantly raised the quality standard of burgers throughout Croatia, inspired the local and national street food scene, and encouraged other cities to start Burger Festivals.

"Our goal is to bring the success of the Zagreb Burger Festival to Zadar and create new gastronomic content for the city with the most beautiful sunset," said the organizers, who arrive in Zadar with a carefully selected team of chefs, cocktail masters and DJs.

Zadar Burger Festival

At the Zadar Burger Festival, visitors will find ten booths, and seven gastronomic wizards will present themselves with their delicacies created specifically for the Festival.

In addition to Institut za Burgere by Mate Janković and Chefs Burgera by Ivan Pažanin, which we are sure will delight visitors and inspire the local street food scene, Full Circle by Marko Palfi is also coming to Zadar, presenting four burgers: its well-known classic - Smokey D, Decadent, Mediterranean, and Veggie Beyond burger. The genius 4 Burgers will also be there - their smash burgers are unique in the way they are made: balls of ground beef are formed, and then, as soon as they reach the grill, they are pressed or broken into a thin patty with a burger press. This creates additional browning and flavour while retaining the juiciness of the patty. There will be four types of these burgers: Original, Bacon, Smoke Jalapeno and Chicken.

All fans of somewhat different flavours and ingredients based on plant products will be happy to hear that Beg's Plant Based will also be at the Zadar Burger Festival, presenting his burgers made exclusively from plant ingredients. After delighting the visitors of Fuliranje with his specialities such as Sarmica, Beg's Cheeseburger, Beg's Santa Balls, chilli and Mac&Cheese, he will present four burgers at the Zadar Burger Festival, and everyone is invited to taste them, whether you are a vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian or die-hard meat lover.

The colours of the host city at the Festival will be represented by the unsurpassed street food start-up from Zadar and the geniuses from Picnic Mingle & Fun. They are the best debutantes and winners of two awards at Zagreb Burger Festival 2022, and with their cheerful spirit, they won the hearts of many street foodies throughout Croatia—Picnic Mingle & Fun rides in its "silver beast on wheels" and its great mood. Their equally great burgers and delicious cocktails attract attention wherever they appear. In Zadar, they will present four extraordinary burgers: Blackie Burger, Prawn Burger, Juicy Burger and Snow Burger, along with their sweet potato fries.

Zadar Burger Festival FB

The local scene will also be represented by the team from Burgers & More with their outstanding burgers, which are already well known to all Zadar residents and those who visit Zadar. Burgers & More will present five delicacies at the Zadar Burger Festival: Deluxe Bacon Burger, Truffle Burger, Rock'n'roll Burger, Italian Burger, and New York Style Burger.

Great burgers pair well with ice-cold Staropramen beer and premium signature cocktails, which all visitors can enjoy at the Central Bar, Gingle Bells and Picnic Craft Cocktails houses.

A carefully designed music program and a great atmosphere are rooted in the DNA of all festivals this creative team organises. Top DJs, musicians, competitions and performances form the creative and attractive backdrop of the Burger Festival. With the support of the Tourist Board of the City of Zadar, we are sure that the Zadar Burger Festival, with its urban music program, modern and contemporary decoration, and above all, positive energy, will give the city of Zadar another quality product that domestic and foreign tourists, as well as the local population, will approve of with a full stomach and take away many good memories with the desire to meet again. So see you at the Zadar Riva from June 2-11 – everybody loves burgers!

You can find out more on the Burger Festival's social networks.

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

29 April 2023 - Occasional TCN contributor Albert Anthony on Arbanasi, an idyllic slice of Zadar and meeting point of two presidents this week.

ZADAR - Though many people may know of Zadar because of its sea organs & salute to the sun, they may not yet have stumbled upon some of its quaint, hidden neighborhoods such as Arbanasi, a world of its own by the sea.

Croatian-American tech & business columnist Albert Anthony writes to TCN this week after attending the official state visit to this small, quiet neighborhood on April 28 by both the presidents of Croatia and Albania, two countries that have been strategic partners in many segments. 

" The two presidents talked about historical & cultural topics relevant to this coastal region, particularly around the theme of how many residents of Arbanasi can trace their heritage to a migration from Albania to Zadar that occurred during the Venetian era of the 1700s.  As someone whose mother & several relatives went to grammar school in this neighborhood, it is certainly one of cultural & historical value but also has a personal connection to me.  Because the local grammar school overlooks the sea, I imagine it was a childhood similar to growing up in those small seaside towns in America or the UK,"  Albert Anthony writes. 

Increased Attention on the Coastal Region.

This month is a busy one for Zadar.  Besides two presidential visits in one day, recently was the opening of the World Sports Tourism Congress last week, and next week is the Adriatic Sea Defense & Aerospace Exhibition (ASDA), which was in Split last time.

"In my opinion, Croatia's coastal region is becoming of strategic importance in terms of trade & culture, and could be one of Europe's key strategic regions.  As we see, it is not just beaches & good seafood, but also a center for large-scale business events and diplomatic visits,"  he continued. 

Small Coastal Neighborhood, Global Impact.

Many locals in Croatia and those in the diaspora are familiar with several singers with roots in the Arbanasi neighborhood, including Đani Maršan, Tomislav Ivčić, and Mladen Grdović, to name a few, whose concerts reached as far as the US and Australia as far back as the 1980s.  But it also is the neighborhood where sports greats from the golden era of basketball and soccer call home, including Giussepe Pino Giergia and Josip Bepo Bajlo.

"Only a forty minute walk from the old town center, hugging the coast, you can reach this hidden neighborhood, take a sea dip, sit in a local cafe overlooking the Adriatic, or peruse the narrow streets that seem like they are from a time long ago, and yet you are still in a city and region that is more modern by the day.  To really know the Croatian coast, you ought to know its many neighborhoods and their contribution to the history, culture, & economy of the region,"  Albert Anthony reiterates.

November 5, 2022 - For more than two thousand years, at a depth of two meters, covered in sand, a Roman ship lay untouched in the sea near Sukosan.

Zadarski reports that although it has long been speculated that the seabed of the ancient harbor at the Barbir site has been hiding many riches, the Zadar river archeologists only recently, after six years of systematic research, came to a great discovery: a Roman ship from the 1^st century emerged from under the layers of sand! It is about three meters wide, while nine meters of its length have been discovered so far. Apart from the parts that were eaten by shipworm, the rest of the ship is in incredibly good condition thanks to the fact that the wood itself has been preserved in the sand for two millennia.

"The ancient port of Barbir was discovered in 1973 and for a long time was documented only superficially, thanks to the research of Boris Ilakovec. Only in 2017 did new, more serious work begin in that area, in parallel with the research of the Roman villa on the mainland, which was largely destroyed due to modern construction. Fortunately, part of the site under the sea has been well preserved", reveals Mladen Pešić, the leader of this research and the director of the International Centre for Underwater Archaeology. In the last six years, for as long as the research under the sea has lasted, the centre has cooperated with the German Archaeological Institute, but also with other partners such as Oxford, the University of Zadar, the Archaeological Museum...

First, they investigated the structure of the Roman pier, which was built in two phases. The first one dates from the 1^st century AD when the port was smaller. This is evidenced by numerous finds of ceramic vessels and amphorae, oil lamps and fragments of glass that came to Sukosan from different parts of the Mediterranean - from the area of ​​present-day Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and Italy - on the routes of maritime trade links. A major expansion took place in the middle of the 4^th century, when the present-day shape of the tongue was formed, which is still there, despite the long exposure to the sea. Evidence of intensive trade during that time is also shown by finds from North Africa. Among the finds from that period, thirty bronze coins stand out, minted during the reign of the emperors Constantine II, Constans and Constantius II, which were found in a layer 150 centimeters below the level of the present-day seabed. It was during these investigations that the archaeologists found a piece of wood, a board with a metal nail, which particularly intrigued them the year before last.

"We were hoping that there could be a ship next to that board. That's why last year we opened the first four squares, each with an area of ​​four square metres, and started researching at that location. And indeed, there was a Roman ship there that we dated to the end of the 1^st or the very beginning of the 2^nd century, i.e. following to the first phase of the port. This year, the research continued, again in cooperation with the German Archaeological Institute and the University of Zadar and archeology students. The team was not large, but it was very interesting" Pešić said for Zadarski.

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

August the 17th, 2022 - The ongoing Zadar hinterland drought is causing a feeling of insecurity and desperation among local winemakers of the area, of which there are a great many. The Zadar hinterland hasn't really seen any rain for around two months now, and it doesn't seem as if relief will come any time soon.

As Morski writes, it hasn't really rained in the Zadar hinterland for two months now, and the ongoing drought is severely harming both local farmers and winemakers, especially in Nadinsko polje, the most ecological vineyard in all of Croatia. Young vineyards with white varieties growing there suffered the most, and if there is no rain in the near future, the harvest will also be worse, and due to the lower yield, there could be problems in the wine cellars as well.

''There's a small amount only, it's pretty miserable. The rest [of what we have] is as it was a month ago, nothing is developing, it isn't getting any colour to it and it should already be turning yellowish so that you can see that it is ripening, but it isn't doing so because these leaves have been burned,'' pointed out winegrower and winemaker Tomislav Glavic.

Glavic planted a Marastina vineyard in the nutrient-rich mud here five years ago. After last year, when the crop was affected by extremely cold temperatures and adverse conditions, this year should have been very good.

''This is our autochthonous variety of Marastina which I had very high hopes for. Last year, everything was frozen, there weren't even any grapes to speak of. This year the harvest was meant to be excellent, it should have been one of the better vintages. Until a month ago, everything was fine,'' he said. The situation is the same in the nearby vineyard of Sime Skaulj in the Zadar hinterland. Both his varieties suffered.

''This is a young three-year-old plantation that should produce extremely high-quality wines, however, it will be difficult to get a quality wine from here now. There's been no photosynthesis, no ripening, no sugar in the grapes, even though these are varieties that achieve very high sugars, but this year that isn't going to happen,'' said Skaulj.

Droughts in the Zadar hinterland, scorching, damagingly high temperatures and storms this summer have all been a fatal combination for these young vineyards.

''We had days when the temperature was 45 and there hasn't been a single drop of rain here since June the 9th. Actually, we had about four tiny drops ten days ago, but that's neither here nor there,'' said Glavic.

''This vineyard needs about 30 litres per square meter. If 30 litres of water had fallen here back at the end of July, it would have been amazing. We don't need a lot of water here, but we don't have a lot of it either,'' explained Skaulj.

''The annual requirements of the vines in terms of precipitation are somewhere from 650 to 850 litres of rain water. From April the 1st to July the 30th, we had somewhere around 176 litres with a very unfavourable precipitation schedule. We've actually got a situation in which these bunches have been exposed to very harmful UV radiation,'' said Zvonimir Vlatkovic from the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture.

If there is no serious rainfall soon, even though the vines have deep roots and are more resistant to drought, even the older, well-established vines will feel it. The harvest from the young plantations could be below average, and the quality could also come into question.

There are about 1,330 hectares of vineyards in not only the Zadar hinterland but spanning the entire territory of Zadar County. All of them have been constantly exposed to extreme temperatures. The situation is better in those that have an irrigation system, although they're also struggling to maintain an average and high-quality crop this year. In recent years, Zadar's local winemakers have made a big step forward when it comes to quality. The market recognises and acknowledges them, and it would be much easier to maintain that level of quality if the plantations didn't depend solely on the whims of nature, which is often cruel.

The straw for not only the winemakers of the Zadar hinterland but for winemakers up and down the country could be EU funds. In the new programme period starting in 2023, the emphasis is, among other things, on irrigation systems, as reported by HRT.

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

August 9, 2022 - Croatia's summer of wildfires continues, with a Zrce fire close to the famous party beach near Novalja and Zadar starting in the night, reports Index.hr.

On Zrce, the most famous party beach in Croatia, a big fire broke out last night, it is being tackled by the firefighters of DVD Novalja, and a Canadair has arrived to help them fight the fire from the air.

Conditions are being made difficult by a strong gale.

Index.hr is providing live updates (Google Translate is your friend if you want to follow the story). 

10:00 Update - the fire has now been extinguished with no casualties.

8 minutes ago
Croatian Roads Authority: Traffic in Novalja has been interrupted
Traffic on the state road DC106 Pag-Novalja in Novalja has been interrupted due to the fire.

8 minutes ago
The clubs evacuated the guests
A journalist from the Požeški.hr portal happened to be at Zrce and reported that the storm that did not stop all night made the extinguishing difficult. After the fire was noticed, the clubs on the Zrce beach immediately directed their guests to the exits and to the buses and taxis in order to get away from the beach as soon as possible.

9 minutes ago
A Canadair is also helping tackle the blaze.
The fire is not under control, and the Canadair has arrived to help.

9 minutes ago
Firefighters have released the video
Tonight, around 3 o'clock, a fire broke out next to Zrce beach on the island of Pag. On the field are members of DVD Novalja who posted a video on their Facebook profile.

Index.hr is providing live updates (Google Translate is your friend if you want to follow the story). 

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July the 30th, 2022 - Just how much does the average family need to set aside financially for a comfortable week spent on the Croatian coast?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, summer on the Croatian coast is the ultimate experience for very many foreign visitors to our shores, but that experience really does come with a hefty price tag, especially in the Dalmatian city of Zadar. Zadar, at least according to the latest research, is the most expensive city in the Republic of Croatia, as reported by N1.

According to the data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (CBS), an average four-member family with an income of 10,000 kuna per month would need to set aside around 2,000 euros for a comfortable seven-day holiday on the Croatian coast. Most people earning a typical Croatian salary can't afford that.

The City of Zadar is one of the top destinations for summer holidays on the Croatian coast, both for foreign and domestic tourists. The only question is just how many people earning Croatian salaties can actually afford it.

"You need around 1,500 kuna for four days, with accommodation, then it's about 2,500 kuna. I don't think the average family can afford that," said one Croatian resident when asked.

The cost of living in Zadar, according to the well-known website for tracking the cost of living, Numbeo, is twice as high as the standard and amounts to around 20,000 kuna. The average family would need to pay out around 400 to 500 kuna just for a walk and some time spent around Kalelarga (a very popular street in the heart of Zadar). That is too much even for the locals.

It costs 100 euros per night for a room and another 100 euros is needed to go out and have a good time, according to local Zadar residents. For seven days in Zadar, and from the beginning of the story, the average family would need to pay around 300 euros per evening in the centre of the city, and between 150 and 200 euros per evening outside the city in places like Vir, Iz or Bibinje. That is about 2,000 euros or two average Croatian monthly salaries.

The price of food and drink also depends on the depth of any given wallet...

"The prices are now higher than they were back during the first of July, but even those prices have their own market and demand. A family of four can still find an apartment in Zadar for 80 to 100 euros per night," said Daniel Radeta, the president of the Zadar Association of Renters. The price of food and drink depends on the balance a person has in their wallet. Residents of Zadar point out that 100 euros per day is enough, even though restaurateurs have raised their prices by 10 percent.

"One round of drinks for four of people comes in at 100 kuna, and that's the cheapest, so coffee and mineral water. If people fancy an alcoholic cocktail, then that's double the price,'' pointed out the president of the Catering Guild at OK Zadar, Robert Kovacevic.

''One meal is from 40 to 100 euros for a family, so that's why you should be careful where you choose to come and sit down. One lunch and dinner for two are around 40 euros. And for four, with a bottle of wine, it's about 100 euros or more," explained Dominik the waiter, who revealed that 90 percent of the people who do this are foreigners, and that there are almost no locals engaging in similar behaviour on the Croatian coast. After lunch, you should cool down. The best solution is ice cream. N1 found a place where a single scoop of ice cream comes in at a price of 12 kuna.

“It's not a big price at all. There are places where a scoop costs 18 kuna,'' said ice cream seller Katarina.

Even going into the sea itself is no longer a free pleasure in some places along the Croatian coast. In Petrcane, entrance to a private beach costs 50 kuna, and the prices on the public beach are the same as everywhere else else: coffee and a sandwich are around 50 kuna, and other pleasures cost between 100 and 300 kuna. A tour of any nearby islands is about 40 euros per person. However, most cash is spent on street food and souvenirs. The prices in Zadar are now fairly steep, but foreign guests still don't complain.

"Yes, I think it's more expensive here than in some other countries in Europe, but the prices are a bit cheaper than they are in Sweden," said one Swedish tourist.

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

July 29, 2022 - Index.hr writes about a vegetarian pop-up restaurant opened in Zadar by chef Paul Ivić.

Paul Ivić is an Austrian chef, one of the most renowned chefs in Vienna, where his vegetarian restaurant Tian in the very center of Vienna proudly carries a Michelin star. In June, he opened a vegetarian pop-up restaurant Bistro Tian Am Meer in Falkensteiner's Resort Punta Skala, which is to be open until September 18.

Ivić says he has long dreamed of getting closer to Croatian cuisine - the cuisine of the country where his father was born and where he spent several weeks a year as a child. When the Falkensteiner Hotel in Zadar approached him with the idea of ​​opening a summer pop-up restaurant, he did not want to miss the opportunity. 

As in many other places, the desire for vegetarian food is growing in Zadar. Bistro Tian Am Meer really wants to attract locals. It is quite logical for Ivić: the Croatia of his childhood has the taste of fresh vegetables and fruits ripened in the sun, and meat was eaten only on special occasions - often on Sundays, always on holidays.

He visited the region around Zadar several times with his colleagues in order to find producers with the best quality local ingredients. Most of the food comes from small family farms (OPGs, as they're known in Croatia) that do not have international distribution partners and often do not even have a website. Many do not even know that they are growing old varieties, some of which are on the brink of extinction. They are not networked and do not engage in any kind of marketing. Ivić wants to teach them to appreciate what they have.

When he first discovered the common glasswort (the literal translation of the name in Croatian would be "the sea asparagus) in Nin, he started collecting it. That fresh smell of salt - that's what he wanted to serve to his guests in the evening. "We didn't want to come here and modernize Croatian cuisine," says Ivić. We want to stay true to Viennese Tian's cooking style, which means we don't serve mushroom-based vegetarian kebabs or similar dishes that imitate meat. Instead, there are reduced vegetable dishes where every ingredient has a chance to shine.

The bistro serves vegetable soup, olive oil emulsion and ajvar. Then, stuffed zucchini flowers, grown by the chef of the hotel's fish restaurant, as well as Sandra Babac's jams. The bread is from the Kroštula bakery in Zadar. Employees at the hotel were "super excited" after the trial run on opening day, even though many said they eat meat every day, Ivić said.

July 19, 2022 - The Zadar Tourist Board is trying to send a message to tourists wearing minimal clothing, but is a Zadar swimsuit ban really in place? A look at the new campaign. 

The Zadar Tourist Board has decided to follow the example of cities like Dubrovnik and put an end to inappropriately-dressed tourists around the city center, reports 24 Sata. 

"Although it is not officially prohibited in Zadar, we ask that you respect the local customs and cultural tradition by not wearing only swimsuits when you are not on the beach, for whatever reason, even if only for a short time. Thank you and have a nice holiday!" is the text written in English and four other languages. The promotional flyers can be found at tourist offices and on several billboards in the city.

"We want to educate our tourists that they are in a special area, rich in history and heritage, where walking in swimming trunks is inappropriate. I believe that they will appreciate the rules of behavior here and in the future, tour the city wearing appropriate clothes," said the director of the Zadar Tourist Board, Mario Paleka, for HRT.

Another problem they will try to solve is the movement of bicycles and scooters in the pedestrian zone. Although this is partly regulated by law, it is not often respected, which is why pedestrians have problems.

The proposals will be included in two consultations with the public initiated by the city's Administrative Department for Communal Activities and Environmental Protection - on the new Decision on Communal Activities and amendments to the Decision on Communal Order.

"Following the announcements from the Zadar Tourist Board, we are expecting concrete proposals from them regarding banning movement through the historic core without clothing or partly dressed, to integrate this idea into the proposed decision," said Zadar's Deputy Head for Municipal Services, Robertino Dujela.

After the procedure is completed, inappropriate clothing within the historical walls may also see fines in Zadar. However, the Tourist Board hopes that even the first step, i.e., posting flyers, will have an impact. 

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