A sigh of relief as the long-awaited and much anticipated Zagreb on the Sava project finally gets underway, and there's even been talk of an opening date.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of June, 2019, the "Zagreb on Sava" (Zagreb na Savi) manifestation will take place at three locations on the south and north river coasts of two popular Zagreb bridges, Most Slobode (Freedom bridge) and at the so-called Hendrix's bridge.

Rather unsurprisingly, this Zagreb project failed to begin on June the 19th, as was recently announced by the City of Zagreb, and there's now a brand new date for the opening of the long-awaited "Zagreb on Sava", Vecernji list writes, with accompanying photos.

The planned summer program set to be held on the banks of the Sava river which runs through Zagreb should, at least according to Sanje Cvjetko Jerković, head of the capital city's strategic planning office, begin on July the 5th this year.

The installation of the assembly pavilions has already been completed, and part of the planned activities, she said, will also be organised earlier. - The holiday program, called Odmorko, which is for children who intend to spend their school holidays in Zagreb, is set to begin in the next few days, claims Sanja Cvjetko Jerković.

The schedule for this year's summer has been published on the website of the Zagreb School Sports Association, which is organising the "Odmorko" program on the south side of the Sava river, next to Freedom bridge. According to them, from the 26th of June to the 12th of July, volleyball on the sand can be played. In addition, the Croatian flying disk alliance will organise the playing of various sports with discs on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Various other events have been organised and arranged within the scope of this much anticipated Zagreb summer manifestation, and as previously mentioned, when finally complete, "Zagreb on Sava" will take place in three locations.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If it's just Zagreb you're interested in, give Total Zagreb a follow or check out Zagreb in a Page for all you need to know about the increasingly popular Croatian capital.

The Ilica Q'Art Project is an innovative project aimed at reviving the culture of communal living on the streets of the city of Zagreb. It will last for three days, on Ilica Street near the so-called Britanski Trg (British Square, often called "Britanac" in Croatian), and will include an open-air stage with various events: concerts, food-stuff and fashion happenings.

This is the third year in a row that a group of enthusiasts has organized this event on Ilica and in the park of the Academy of the Fine Arts. The goal of the project is to bring the liveliness back to the centre of the city and to bring back to the collective consciousness the importance of quality living, in accord with the city we live in and our community. The organisers are Ivana Nikolić Popović, president of the Croatian Cluster of the Competitiveness of the Creative and Cultural Industries (HKKKKI in Croatian, in English the abbreviation is even better: CCCCCI!), the professor from the Academy of Fine Arts Aleksandar Battista Ilić and the producer Ivana Stavljenić put the emphasis on the importance of recycling and upcycling. Their message is clear: if we want a happy future, the priorities are sustainability, protection of the spaces and the respect for the community we live in.

Some of the most well-know Croatian food bloggers will give flavour to this year's Ilica Q'art project: people behind Marie aka.Pinkfoodie, Zdravi pinklec, Darkova web kuharica, Začinjeno ljubavlju and Brekalom will be creating their food magic at Britanac over the weekend.

On Sunday the main event of the project will be taking place, the big flea market (buvljak) will be organized on the Ilica itself, on the tram tracks themselves, and the traffic will be banned from Medulićeva to Primorska Street while the flea market is up and running (9 am until 3 pm). Find your fashion inspiration in the second-hand fashion show that will take place around 11 am, where some of the Croatian celebrities will take the roles of the models, showing what recycling and upcycling look like in their wardrobe.

There will be music, including the performance by one of the best known Croatian baristas Nik Orosi and his band, hair stylists will help you find your perfect summer style, and a local pastry shop will NOT be helping your summer body with their delicacies. Several book publishers will offer their books for the flea market, and of course, you're more than welcome to bring your stuff and sell it, so it doesn't end in a landfill. The evenings are also reserved for music, Maja Rivić trio will jazz it up on Friday night, DJs Bocca Sofistifunk and Ynez will perform during the daytime on Saturday and evening will see the concert by the Pavle Miljenović Quartet at the Academy's park stage. The whole event will be closed Sunday night with a performance by Valerija Nikolovska Quartet.

Find more details on Ilica Q'Art Project at https://www.facebook.com/projektilica/ and http://www.projektilica.com/

Could less be more for Advent in Zagreb this year? This year's five-week-long Advent celebrations in the capital are set to have a smaller offer and less ''cottages'' in order to reduce consumerism and improve the overall quality of what is on offer.

As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 11th of November, 2018, at the presentation of this year's Advent in Zagreb, which has held the title of the best in Europe for three years now, it has been announced that the emphasis of the event, which will last from the 1st of December to the 6th of January, will be placed more onto cultural events in order to reduce the atmosphere of consumerism and restore the true Christmas spirit.

The novelties this year will be the city's various locations,  Advent in Maksimir, Advent on Old Tkalča, where traditional crafts will go hand in hand with the spirit of some of Zagreb's oldest townhouses in Gradec and Kaptol, and the ''Film Advent'' in Kino Europa will be presented. As they say from the Zagreb Tourist Board this year, there will be three locations less than last year, and although they couldn't precisely quantify the number, there will be a decrease in cottages in the city.

During last year's Advent, 110,707 people spent up to half a billion kuna in Zagreb alone, with most of them spening as much as 139 euros per day, the number of overnight stays and arrivals was also 23 percent higher in the first thirty days of Advent in Zagreb than in 2016. Poslovni Dnevnik asked those who earn their money during Advent in Zagreb what they think about reducing the number of cottages, but it seems that everyone involved understands the good intentions of the organisers, as they themselves think the crowds are by far the biggest problem.

Saša Frid, who for three years at Advent in Zagreb recalls that the sheer wave of people is what is causing "chaos" for those working, and most of those with stands and/or cottages simply cannot produce the right quantities to meet the wishes of all of those visiting.

"The first three weekends are a real hit, and only when that crowd goes down is there any room to improve the offer, since it was physically impossible and technically hard to do before then. It would be great to have as few industrial and as many domestic products as possible, but I think it will be difficult to change all of that because to most, Advent still looks like a chance just to make money,'' noted Frid.

Matej Đorđević, co-owner of the Time restaurant, who will also take part in Advent in Zagreb this year, argues that the problem is not really to do with stands or Advent cottages, but the fact that this event in Zagreb brings "a sea" of people into Zagreb from all over Croatia and Europe.

"Our city is simply incapable of dealing with such a massive inflow of people and it's therefore necessary that the city infrastructure itself is gradually adapted. However, the fact remains that Advent in Zagreb has ''made'' the city (in touristic terms) and that's an immense tourist achievement for this city, for which the leadership of the Zagreb Tourist Board is the most deserving,'' stated Đorđević.

Want to keep up with what's going on across Croatia for Advent this year? Make sure to follow our lifestyle page. If it's Zagreb you're interested in, make sure to follow Total Zagreb.

Click here for the original article by Marta Duic for Poslovni Dnevnik

The legendary band are set to make a return to the Croatian capital.

In Zagreb tomorrow?

The Šenoa House will be hosting a number of events November 14 - December 13.

Indie-folk, electronic music, fado - this weekend and next week will be filled with great tunes.

The famous Cirque du Soleil is coming to Arena Zagreb to perform TORUK – The First Flight on December 7 – 9, 2018, as part of their global tour.

Advent in Zagreb will take place December 2 - January 7.