October 2, 2022 - Osijek is too much fun. The 4th largest city in Croatia and the regional centre of eastern Croatia lives the good life. The IT scene is booming, new things keep popping up, and cultural events are ever-present. The autumn months are especially exciting. During the day, you can still chill in the sun by the Drava, and in the evening, walk through one of Osijek's many parks, picking up wild chestnuts. Or you can enjoy them as a snack if you buy them roasted from the legendary carts. And on late September / early October weekends, now traditionally, you don't even need to ask what everyone is doing. Just Head On East.
This festival, as the name suggests, celebrates hedonism in the east. And does it shine brightly here. The organisers included the Osijek-Baranja County Tourist Board, the Osijek-Baranja County, the City of Osijek, and many of the city's institutions - schools, libraries, museums, and associations. It felt like all of Osijek just came together to create an unforgettable experience. And we don't say that lightly.
The organisers thought of everything and made sure to accommodate all ages and personal definitions of hedonism. Whether that is food, fine wine, beautiful art and light installations, or good music, you could spend the entire weekend living in Osijek's royal parks.
This year's theme was a royal one, with the main venues being the royal parks of Osijek, i.e., the parks carrying names of kings and queens. Our favourite was the one that hosted the Kingdom of Wine or KraljeVINA (wordplay in Croatian: Kraljevina = kingdom, and vina = of wine). Fun fact, with 17 parks (surpassing the number of squares), Osijek is known as the Green City or the City of Parks. And Head On East utilised that to create an atmosphere of warmth, familiarity, and joy, yet excitement for something new at every step.
From early morning on Friday until late at night on Saturday, something was happening. Workshops and theatre for the little ones, cook-offs and culinary classes at the market, art, education, wine tasting, local food, craft beer and gin, and live concerts. What impressed us the most was the thoughtful planning and organisation of the locations and events, which made heading on east dynamic and entertaining in a way you wouldn't necessarily think about. The parks felt like a little kingdom each but were all connected by the central theme, hedonism. And though something else was happening at every location, and all the events and crowds made it busy, the route was logical and made it easy to enjoy every aspect.
The light installations put up along European Avenue made the night simply magical. The fact that not only you could walk into the Museum of Fine Arts and look around while listening to a live jazz concert in its backyard but also try your hand at contributing to a painting while having a glass of local wine would probably make anyone suddenly start appreciating art that much more.
To quote Ivana Jurić, the director of Osijek-Baranja County Tourist Board, we invite you to come and experience the east of Croatia more. Head On East and discover what it's all about!
Photos are courtesy of Visit Slavonija Baranja Facebook page (Marko Banić / Osijek-Baranja County Archive).
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