(photo: screenshot from the Za Krizem Hvar video / HRT)
For locals, it is a question of faith and tradition. It is not unusual, that there are families with several generations of crossbearer. It is a great honour for everyone to carry the cross. The current waitlist is rather long and it was not always the case, as a former crossbearer Paulo Bunčuga explains in his interview for Total Hvar.
Easter is usually the period, when the island starts to prepare for the upcoming summer season. Most cafes and restaurants open in this period, but tourism is not so much what people are thinking about during Easter. It is more about focusing on Easter itself, the procession and everything that it stands for.
This is why there are many crossbearer, who would refuse to have media covering the procession. With the growing interest for the procession, there are visibly more photographers trying to capture the event every year. Let′s hope, that there is a way for them not to interfere with the actual procession, so the atmosphere of the event can be kept intact.
Here is a short documentary made by the National Television 2 years ago. The Pitve crossbearer Paulo Duboković and his brother Tedi Duboković talked about the long tradition in their family..
