Luminize (Photo: Govert Kreuk Photography/Facebook)

Croatian all-girls pop-rock band Luminize, made up of four girls from Crikvenica in Croatia – Marcela, Matilda, Irena and Tea – had the chance to sing for the Dutch King’s birthday last weekend.

Luminize, who moved to live in the Netherlands to pursue their career, was invited to perform at the ‘The Life I Live’ festival on Kingsday in honour of the King’s birthday in The Hague. More than 300,000 people attended the festival.

Each year on 27 April the Dutch celebrate King’s Day (King Willem Alexander’s birthday) by organizing music festivals, fairs and events. It is also a national holiday in the country.

Luminize (Photo: PR)

Luminize’s invitation to perform came after a successful tour on which they promoted their debut album ‘All Or Nothing’ and after performing in Ziggo Dome as openers for Golden Earring in front of 17,000 people.

Luminize regularly plays at venues and festivals in the Netherlands and throughout Europe, and are known for their dynamic and powerful live performance. Their singles ‘Get it Back’ and ‘Kill it with Love’ led to international deals with Universal Music, AT bookings and the Swedish X-Level.

Rita Ora

Popular British singer and actress Rita Ora will perform for the first time in Croatia this summer.

Ora, who was born in Kosovo, will perform at the three-day Rise Up Poreč music festival at Peškera Bay in Poreč on 7 July 2018.

The 27-year-old rose to prominence back in 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh’s single “Hot Right Now”, which reached number one in the UK. Her debut studio album, Ora, released in August 2012, debuted at number one in the United Kingdom. The album contained the UK number-one singles “R.I.P.” and “How We Do (Party)”.

Peškera Bay (PR)

Ora was the artist with the most number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart in 2012, with three consecutive singles reaching the top position. She had two UK top-tens last year with “Your Song” and “Anywhere”.

Also performing at the festival on the 7th of July with Ora will be Croatia’s Eurovision representative Franka Batelic and DJ duo Vanillaz. On the 8th there will be performances by Dubioza Kolektiv, Urban & 4 and Edo Maajka.

The festival will take place from 6-8 July 2018. Ticket info here.

Prljavo kazalište are touring North America

One of the most popular and long-lasting rock bands from Croatia – Prljavo kazalište – are currently selling out venues in America and Canada on their 40th-anniversary jubilee tour.

After visiting Australia earlier in the year, Prljavo kazalište started their the North America leg of their World Tour in April with concerts in Toronto, Chicago and New York. This week they head to play in San Francisco (3.05), Los Angeles (4.05), Calgary (5.05) and Vancouver (6.05).

(Press)

The U.S. tour is the band’s tenth with the first three concerts selling out. Prljavo Kazalište entertained the crowd with hits from their 14 studio albums over the last 40 years like “Marine”, “Sve je lako kad si mlad”, “S vremena na vrijeme” and “Mojoj Majci”.

The band returns to Zagreb to play at NK Zagreb stadium on 31 May before heading to the UK to play their first ever concert in London.

Prljavo kazalište will play in London on 7 June 2018 at The Grand Theatre, a venue which has seen the likes of Oasis, Jamiroquai, Muse, The Verve and other big names in world music perform at.

Prljavo Kazalište in London

Tickets for the London concert have now gone on sale. Ticket prices range from £36.50 to £65, depending on when tickets are purchased. Tickets are available online at www.tulumton.com or from 18 April 2018 from Fulham Kitchen and Bonego (ex Resentin) restaurants.

Croatia Week is giving you an opportunity to get tickets with a discount. Send us an email to get the promo code – croatiaweek1@gmail.com

The Croatian club is one of the leading clubs in Europe (Photo: Papaya)

Papaya on Zrće beach on the Croatian island of Pag has been voted the world’s 6th best club for 2018 by readers of prestigious British electronic music magazine DJ MAG.

Green Valley in Brazil took the No.1 spot, followed by Ushuaia in Ibiza and Zouk Singapore in Singapore in a vote by tens of thousands of readers.

Club Papaya has been Croatia’s leading club for a number of years, featuring on a number of ‘world’s best clubs’ lists. With a view from the club overlooking the Adriatic and Velebit mountain, Papaya hosts a number of top DJs over the summer season.

(Photo: Papaya)

Voters in the poll agreed that Papaya is one of the best party spots in Europe. The open-air club spreads over 32,000 sq ft and has the capacity of approximately 4,500 people.

DJs who have performed at Papaya include Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Hardwell, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Paul Kalkbrenner, Nicky Romero, Paul Van Dyk, Calvin Harris, Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa.

(Photo: Papaya)

TOP 9 Clubs in the World for 2018

1. GREEN VALLEY – Brazil
2. USHUAïA – Ibiza
3. ZOUK SINGAPORE – Singapore
4. ECHOSTAGE – Washington
5. HÏ IBIZA – Ibiza
6. PAPAYA – Zrće
7. OCTAGON – Seoul
8. PACHA IBIZA – Ibiza
9. FABRIC – London

Jelena Rozga

Counting down this week’s official Croatian Top 10 singles of the week, according to the Croatian Discography Association’s Top40 list.

10. Toni Cetinski- General bez činova

9. Lidija Bačić Feat. Vigor – Vino rumeno

8. Jelena Rozga – Najbolji dan

7. Ivana Kindl – Ima nade

6. Mia – Do posljednjeg retka

5. Jacques – Sam

4. Saša Lozar – Da

3. Igor Delač – Budan

2. Vatra Feat. Massimo – Nama se nikud ne žuri

1. Petar Grašo – Ako te pitaju

2CELLOS cover Eye of the Tiger (Screenshot)

International Croatian cello stars 2CELLOS have dropped another video on Friday which has quickly gone viral again.

Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, who this week were nominated for a Classic Brit Award, have covered American rock band Survivor’s hit Eye of the Tiger, which was also the theme song for the film Rocky III.

Their rendition of the classic 80s classic has already amassed nearly a quarter of a million view on YouTube.

In true authentic Rocky style, the video was shot in a garage in Pula.

Check it out below:

Official poster of the 71st Cannes Film Festival (© Design: Flore Maquin – Photo: Pierrot le fou © Georges Pierre)

The 71st Cannes Film Festival, May 8th to 19th, 2018, will include Ognjen Glavonić’s The Load in the ‘Directors’ Fortnight’ (La Quinzaine des réalisateurs), while Anja Kofmel’s film Chris the Swiss and the short film Third Kind by Yorgos Zois will screen in ‘The International Critics’ Week’ (La Semaine de la Critique) section.

All three films are minority Croatian co-productions. Oliver Sertić will participate in the Producers on the Move platform, while the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) will again, this year, promote Croatian cinematography at the Film Market.

The Load

Vlada (Leon Lučev) works as a truck driver during the NATO bombings of Serbia in 1999. His mission is to transport a mysterious load from Kosovo to Belgrade and on the way drives through war-ravaged locations. When he completes his task, Vlada has to return home and face the consequences of his actions.

The film’s writer and director is Ognjen Glavonić. The Load stars Leon Lučev, Pavle Čemerikić, Tamara Krcunović and Ivan Lučev. The Croatian co-producer is Ankica Jurić Tilić (Kinorama).

The Load

The ‘Directors’ Fortnight’ (La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) will take place, for the 50th time, in parallel with the Cannes Film Festival from May 9th to 19th. The programme presents new names in directing, highlighting authors with a strong and unique poetic. Throughout the history of the programme, the attention of audiences and critics has been attracted by some of today’s most renowned film directors including: Werner Herzog, Martin Scorsese and Ken Loach. More information is available at this link.

Chriss the Swiss

Chris the Swiss is about a young Swiss reporter killed during the war in the former Yugoslavia. While the director exposes the circumstances surrounding his death, animated scenes are woven through documentary footage.
Anja Kofmel wrote and directed the film, and the Croatian co-producer is Siniša Juričić (Nukleus Film).

Chriss the Swiss

Third Kind

The Earth has long been abandoned, and people have found sanctuary in space. Three archaeologists return to the planet in order to explore the origin of a mysterious signal made up of five tones.

Yorgos Zois, the film’s director, co-wrote the script with Konstantina Kotzamani, and the Croatian co-producer is Siniša Juričić (Nukleus Film). Third Kind stars Alexandros Vardaxoglou, Effi Rabsilber, Nikos Hanakoulas and Miankhail Waris Awalgul.

‘The International Critics’ Week’ (La Semaine de la Critique) is the oldest out-of-competition section of the Cannes Film Festival and will take place this year, for the 57th time, from May 7th to 19th. The section screens first and second films from directors from around the globe and in that way stays true to its tradition of discovering new talent. Names like Bernardo Bertolucci, Alejandro Gonsález Iñárittu and Gaspar Noé have all had their films screened in this programme. More information is available on this link.

Producers on the Move: Oliver Sertić

European Film Promotion has selected Croatian producer Oliver Sertić to participate in the Producers on the Move platform, taking place in parallel with the Cannes Film Festival from May 10th to 14th. Producers on the Move is a networking platform aiming to promote European co-productions. Participants will attend lectures, workshops, pitching sessions and ‘one-on-one’ meetings with film experts. They will have the opportunity to receive promotional space in international industry publications. The platform, along with Sertić, will include 19 other participants. For more information and a full list of participants please visit the EFP’s official website.

The Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) at Cannes

The HAVC will, for the 11th year in a row, present Croatian cinematography at the Film Market (Marché du film). Market-screenings will include: Antonio Nuić’s feature film Mali, Lada Kamenski, a feature film by Sara Hribar and Marko Šantić, Bobo Jelčić’s feature film All Alone, and Days of Madness, a feature documentary film by Damian Nenadić.

Furthermore, HAVC representatives will, through publications, meetings and digital platforms, present film professionals at the market (buyers and festival selectors) completed Croatian films of all themes and genres. The HAVC will also be available, for both logistical and lobbying purposes, to all Croatian authors and producers in Cannes who will be discussing current and future projects.

For Croatian film production promotional purposes, New Croatian Features & Shorts II/2018, highlighting new Croatian films, has been published. The publication is available here.

The Cleaning Lady

Short Film Corner

For short film promotional purposes, the HAVC has reserved a place for Croatian films at the Short Film Corner – a platform for short film professionals that includes meetings, exchange of ideas, networking, and promotion. Films included are: After Party by Viktor Zahtila, Almost Nothing: So Continues the Night by Davor Sanvincenti, Blink by Jakov Labrović, The Cleaning Lady by Matija Vukšić, Cyclists by Veljko Popović, How Steel was Tempered by Igor Grubić, The Lovetts by Igor Bezinović, Marica by Judita Gamulin, Safe Flight by Aldo Tardozzi, ‘The Stranger’ In my Head by Petra Balekić and White Trash by Sunčica Ana Veldić.

A.K.A. Crescendo (Photo: Facebook)

Franka Batelić will take to the stage tonight to perform ‘Crazy’ for Croatia in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Portugal.

Croatia has participated at Eurovision 23 times since making its debut at the 1993 contest. Croatia’s best result in the contest is fourth-place finishes in 1996 (Maja Blagdan) and 1999 (Doris Dragović).

Franka during rehearsals in Portugal (Photo: Thomas Hanses/Eurovision TV)

In the build-up to Franka’s performance in Portugal, A cappella group A.K.A. Crescendo from the University of Zadar have produced an entertaining 5-minute compilation of all of Croatia’s Eurovision entries.

A.K.A. Crescendo members: Matea Biloglav, Nikolina Brala, Karla Drezga, Ana-Marija Galiot, Lucija Grabovac,  Dora Kanjer, Nives Majetić, Šime Mračić, Filip Panza, Marko Petrov, Filip Rušin, Jakov Šuto.

Check the compilation below.

Franka Batelic (Photo by: Thomas Hanses/Eurovision)

Croatia has missed out on making the grand final of the 63rd Eurovision after the first semi-final of Eurovision 2018 took place in Portugal tonight.

Franka Batelic (26) performed ‘Crazy’ at Lisbon’s Altice Arena in the first semi-final on Tuesday night and failed to impress both the jury and audience at home to make it as one of the 10 finalists from the 19 countries which took to the stage.

Votes from the jury made up half the score whilst the remaining half came from votes from the audience at home. Crazy, a love song with a mystic vibe, was written by Franka herself with the music by Branimir Mihaljevic.

.@Franka_Batelic brings some real retro vibes, and we’re ‘Crazy’ for them! #ESC2018 #AllAboard #CRO pic.twitter.com/mIBcuZj4hj

— Eurovision (@Eurovision) May 8, 2018

The 19 countries which took to the stage in Lisbon in the first semi-final were: Azerbaijan, Iceland, Albania, Belgium, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Israel, Belarus, Estonia, Bulgaria, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Croatia, Austria, Greece, Finland, Armenia, Switzerland, Ireland and Cyprus.

The countries who also advanced to the grand final from the first semi-final were: Austria, Estonia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Israel, Czech Republic. Bulgaria, Albania, Finland, Ireland.

The second semi-final will take place on Thursday before the final on Saturday 12 May.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

English singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor will be performing for the first time in Croatia next month.

Ellis-Bextor, who first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience before going solo, will perform at the 2018 Rovinj Summer Music Festival in the Istrian town of Rovinj on 9 June.

Ellis-Bextor had widespread success in the early 2000s as a solo artist, crowning the top of British and world TOP charts with hits like ‘If This Ain’t Love’, ‘Murder on the dance floor’, ‘I won’t change you’ and ‘Music Gets the Best of Me’.

Sophie also has had successful collaborations with numerous musicians such as Freemasons, Bob Sinclair, Calvin Harris and George Michael.

Rovinj

Her solo debut album, Read My Lips, was released in September 2001. The album reached number two in the UK Albums Chart and was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The record experienced international success, selling more than 2 million copies worldwide.

She since went on to record 6 studio albums with her fifth, Wanderlust, becoming her highest charting album, peaking at number 4 in the UK.

In 2018 she will release her first greatest hits compilation, called The Song Diaries, which will consist on orchestral reworkings of 16 singles.

Rovinj Summer Music Festival

Rovinj Summer Music Festival
09.06.2018 Porton Biondi Bay – Sophie Ellis Bextor
27.07.2018 Island St. Andrija – Vesna Pisarović & Petit Standard Jazz Trio
04.08.2018 Porton Biondi Bay – Mario Biondi

Visit Eventim to purchase tickets.

Diocletian’s Palace in Split (Photo: Ballota/CC)

If you are looking at things to do away from the beaches on the beautiful Dalmatian coast and want to have some family fun learning about Croatian culture and history at the same time, then check out the heritage pursuits.

In Split, Zadar and Nin you can go on a treasure hunt, or heritage pursuit, with City Game Croatia.

City Game Croatia lets you sail through Croatian history by playing a game that is organized by licensed guides. By solving the puzzles in Zadar, Split or Nin, you will discover the local heritage that is covered under UNESCO. The cities that you will be visiting are culturally, historically and architecturally significant for Croatia.

Have fun while learning where the Queen lived in Zadar and why she went to the main square so often. You will also learn who built, and why they built, the ramparts in Zadar, that are under UNESCO since 2017.

Zadar

In Split, you will discover the way of life of the Roman emperor as well as see the famous apartment of Emperor Diocletian (dining room, promenade, tomb) – Diocletian’s palace (UNESCO) will have no more secrets against you.

Zadar’s “Kopnena vrata” – Landward Gate (Photo credit: Maestralno under CC)

These heritage pursuits are suitable for families, individuals, couples and tourists who want to see the city from a different perspective.

Check out more info on the official website and check out the video below.

SuncéBeat

There are not too many music festivals which have celebrated a decade anniversary but soul, house, disco, and RnB festival SuncéBeat is one of those.

This year the 9th edition of SuncéBeat will take place from 18-25 July 2018 in Tisno.

We caught up with talk to one of the festival’s co-founders, Alex, about how it started, the key to its success and more.

Being the 9th year of SuncéBeat, how did an island festival first initiate?

About 10 years ago I decided to run Southport Weekender once a year rather than twice a year and it was too much and an expensive weekend, my friends on the ground ; Nick Colgan who runs the site now, at the time Jerry who was my production manager, who has now sadly passed away and Bonny who is my production manager in Croatia, all came up to Southport Weekender to sell me that fact I should take it to Croatia, they got a bit of shock actually, when I presented them a programme and I already put in the programme that they were doing, so, I knew we had good people on the ground and Jerry was my right-hand man and he told me I should do a weeklong festival.

Also, at the time there was only The Garden festival, so we decided to go along and share our production, we were looking for a gap to replace the missing Southport Weekender so we decided instead of doing something up North to do something sunny in Croatia – Spring time weekender, and summer time festival. It splits the bill really nicely, as I like to call it, the little baby sister of the Southport Weekender.

Alex (right) with David Morales at last years festival

What drew you to choosing Croatia and specifically Tisno and with so many festivals there now, how do you make yourself unique?

Tisno came about because at the time our license was lost at Petrcane, Eddy, one of The Garden Festival partners spent a lot of time driving around, looking at bays to see if we can find a replacement venue. He then came across this beautiful town Tisno, he came on the phone and could hardly speak as he’d found the right place with so much potential and he was proved right, so that’s how that came about.

SuncéBeat

How do we make ourselves unique? I think a big part of it, is being involved with the evolving 30-year-old Southport Weekender network. Also, with SuncéBeat you get more variation than anywhere else, from South African House, Soul, Hip Hop to UK Garage – we have moved ahead of the times and tweaked it, I hope that comes across like that. We are also great believers of varying up the stages, watching sets making sure there’s variation on the stages and that everyone is catered for.

It’s always very international, at least 40% come from all around the world, I can most definitely say there’s probably well over 100 people coming from Tel Aviv, Israel and France, plus it’s much more varied in age groups as well, between 18-50-year-olds which mixes beautifully.

SuncéBeat

Known as the friendliest funk and soul music based festival, over the years has your musical programming had to change at all?

We tweak it to make it interesting, you have to keep up with it all without changing the whole programme because of it being a trend like dubstep was all the rage a few years ago so everyone went for that, I never fell for that. Of course, you have to cater for everything, change and move with the times but you can’t go in all “guns blaze” and in full-scale changes.

What has been your standout moment of all time at SuncéBeat?

Yes, last year (haha) when we had the bush fires going on the hill and the aeroplane flying over the Beach Stage with people dancing, dropping water bombs with everyone cheering and then a full-scale storm whipped up with 24 foot waves, and washed up a Yacht on the beach, this was all in a matter of full-on madness but that never usually happens, it was an odd day that.

Other memories with great acts, Gregory Porter, Roy Ayers, Brand New Heavies, plus DJ sets, just millions of good memories.

SuncéBeat

Aside from SuncéBeat you also have Southport Weekender, apart from being in Croatia how do you differentiate both?

Southport Weekender has 9 arenas and holds 12,000 compared to 3,000, so it’s a lot bigger than Croatia. Therefore, it caters a lot more with soul, house, trendy jazz areas which get integrated within SuncéBeat – For instance with the Liverpool Disco Festival, in Croatia, it would incorporate into various things whereas it would have its own Arena at Finsbury Park.

Also it’s not a one day festival like Finsbury Park, it’s a week-long which is a holiday for many people, so it does have that holiday vibe where people have the chance to sample the beautiful delights of Croatia, boat parties, the restaurants in Tisno which I’d like to say big ups to Theresa and Tuk Tuk that look after us.

SuncéBeat

Are there any future plans on expanding elsewhere, where would be your dream place to host another festival?

For Croatia, our eyes will be on the 10th birthday next year, we love Tisno, so we will just be tweaking and improving wherever we can. Where would I like to do a dream festival? Probably in Australia as its close to my heart, as I have a lot of family there, I’d love to do something in Australia one day…

Idris Elba DJs in Zagreb last night (Instagram)

British actor Idris Elba, who is best known for playing DCI John Luther on Luther, drug trafficker Stringer Bell on the HBO series The Wire and Nelson Mandela in the biographical film Mandela, was in Zagreb last night DJ-ing at a local club.

The 45-year-old keen musician DJ-ed at Opera club in the Croatian capital on Friday night. Elba plays under the moniker DJ Big Driis.

Elba was ‘pleasantly surprised’ after playing to a packed out club. Elba mixed tunes whilst smoking a cigar as his fiancee, former model Sabrina Dhowre watched on.

The actor took time also to mingle with fans, posing for photos.

@idriselba insisted we took this photo, definitely not us. Great night and a great show! #idriselba #opera #party #lads

A post shared by Jan Pecnik (@jan.pecnik) on May 11, 2018 at 7:16pm PDT

Elba, who arrived in the capital with his fiancee and daughter on Friday afternoon, has been nominated four times for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, winning one. Elba also appeared in Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, Takers, Thor, and its sequels Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok, as well as Avengers: Infinity War.

Check out Idris in action below (via Instagram)

A post shared by Vjeko Orešić (@vjekooresic) on May 11, 2018 at 7:32pm PDT

In 2016, Elba was named in the Time 100 list of the Most Influential People in the World.

John Cleese

One of the UK’s most famous comedians and actors has sold out his first show in Croatia next month.

John Cleese, who co-founded the renowned Monty Python troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python’s Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life, has now added a second show in Zagreb.

Cleese will be in Croatia on the European leg of the tour of his new show ‘Last Time To See Me Before I Die’ and will perform his first sold-out show at the Vatroslav Lisinki Concert Hall on 15 June 2018 in the Croatia capital.

Cleese has added a second show for disappointed fans on 17 June.

John Cleese adds a second Croatia show

Cleese’s ‘Last Time To See Me Before I Die’ show begins with a montage of some of the most popular clips, from the Ministry of Silly Walks and the Parrot Sketch from Python to Fawlty Towers. He then will take the audience through the early days of his career in comedy.

In the second half of the show, he takes a look at some of his films, such as Life of Brian and A Fish Called Wanda, and allows the audience the opportunity to ask some questions.

Tickets for the second show are now available from the Lisinski website here.

Zagreb Beer Fest

After a popular first edition last year, Zagreb Beer Fest is back again.

Zagreb Beer Fest will be held this year over four days from 17-20 May 2018 at Trg Francuske Republike (Franjo Tuđman park) in the centre of Zagreb.

Last year more than 30,000 people attended the festival and this year organisers are expecting over 50,000 people to attend over the four days.

As well as over 100 different types of beers to taste, the festival will have a full live music programme.

Zagreb Beer Fest

Confirmed acts include Pips, Chips & Videoclips, Let 3, Fischer-Z, Partibrejkers, Bojana Vunturišević, Kandžija & Gole žene, Irena Žilić, Nipplepeople, Porto Morto, Drvored, Vojko V, Markiz, Ischariotzky, The Miceks, Mnogi Drugi, Slow Motion Suicide and Peglica & Komandos.

Zagreb Beer Fest

There will also be a big open-air pub quiz hosted by TV personality Tarik Filipović on Saturday (19.05) and Sunday (20.05).

Entry to the festival is free.

For more details on the programme check out the Zagreb Beer Fest Facebook page.

Zagreb Beer Fest

13th INmusic Festival set to start (Photo: Julien Duval)

The full daily line up for the 13th edition of INmusic festival in Zagreb has been announced.

From 25-27 June 2018 at Zagreb’s Lake Jarun some of the biggest names in music will perform at the festival, including Queens Of The Stone Age, David Byrne, The Kills, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Alice In Chains and Portugal. The Man.

One day tickets are available exclusively from the INmusic festival webshop from today. The price of daily tickets is 60 EUR for each festival day. Tickets for each day are valid for the listed date only.

The announced artist will be performing at the festival on the following dates:

Monday, June 25th – Queens Of The Stone Age, David Byrne, The Kills, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Superorganism, Témé Tan, Them Moose Rush, Straight Mickey And The Boyz, False Heads, Tyger Lamb, Rival Bones, Tus Nua, Nellcote, Grapevine Babies

Tuesday, June 26th – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, St. Vincent, Bombino, Jinx, Reykjavíkurdætur, Šumski, Koala Voice, Irena Žilić, J.R. August, ZMaJ, Lika Kolorado, Ischariotzcky, Bad Notion

Wednesday, June 27th – Interpol, Alice In Chains, Portugal. The Man, General Elektriks, PINS, Tschegue, Super Besse, She Loves Pablo, Moskau, Sana Garić, Killed A Fox, Cubies, Rens Argoa, Futurski

The full festival time schedule will be announced in early June.

Festival tickets are available online via the official festival webshop for just 60 EUR until May 18th at midnight, as well as seven-day camping tickets for just 33 EUR.

Art Park Zagreb

One of the most beautiful parks in the center of Zagreb, the one between Tomić street, Ilica and Strossmayer promenade, will again come to life from 25 May with an exciting all-summer programme, now known as Art Park.

The opening weekend program (25th, 26th and 27th of May) includes painting sessions by Alan Myers and Guido Palmadessa, two fabulous artists from Argentina whose paintings are recognizable on the streets of the world’s metropolis.

They will be joined by guests from neighboring Serbia, also internationally renowned Junk and Wuper, while Croatian art forces will feature Lunar, Dominik Vuković, Modul8, Ivan Oštarčević, Dock, Smack, Tinu Ninu, Pero zloba, Boris Bare and Saša Pocrnić Anxio from Split.

During the three-day opening, artists will paint the walls and panels in the park, visitors will hang out with the Dj session, and the program will complement the cyclo-projection and educational content of this year’s Pedalafest, the biggest event associated with the urban biking culture in this part of Europe.

The park will be upgraded this year with interesting architectural adaptation montage solutions and additional urban greenery signed by Grow Studio and Hortiart. Art-botanical installation will be inaugurated in the park thanks to a collaboration with Floraart, which will feature Art Park for the first time with its selected program to be out of its location, at Bundek in the period between 28 May to 3 June 2018.

Interactive sculptures Urban Toys by Aleksandar Battista Ilić will get even more space in the park, while co-operation with Ilica: Q’Art project, with which Art Park shares the idea of linking content and revival of Ilica street, gets an upgrade in the form of an interesting open-air programme and exhibition. 
The park will also include a special ‘reading bench’ to be taken care of by Fraktura publishing, and a variety of programmes have been arranged with numerous associates such as Knap, Zagreb’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Jungle Tribe, Restart Label, ZMAG, Animafest, Goulash Festival, Hoomstock, 36 Mountains Festival, Tam Tam Festival from Hvar, Pasica Kasica, Mesnička Culture Centre…

A pleasant summer afternoon in the park, an outdoor gallery that will complement the new works and a varied daily programme where everyone will find something for themselves, remain the main features of the third edition of Art Park.

This year’s project was supported by the Tourist Board of the City of Zagreb, the City of Zagreb, the Medvedgrad Brewery, Jamnica and Pipi.

All information is available through Facebook Art Park Zagreb.

Love Stories Museum opens in Dubrovnik (Photo credit: Antonia Kunjašić)

One of the most romantic destinations in the world becomes home to the world’s first museum dedicated to love & romance. “Love Stories Museum” opened its doors last week in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Love Stories Museum is collecting and displaying unique personal love stories and items of great sentimental value from all around the world.

(Photo credit: Antonia Kunjašić)

Among the many objects displayed along the walls of the Love Stories Museum, you’ll find a coffee mug, a souvenir from Sweden that got an American woman and a man from France together. There’s also the story of a young man who met his future wife at a funeral, and an emotional story involving a couple going through a divorce who decided to give their marriage one last shot. Visitors to the museum can donate their personal love story and an interesting item that could end up as a part of the global love stories collection.

(Photo credit: Antonia Kunjašić)

(Photo credit: Antonia Kunjašić)

(Photo credit: Antonia Kunjašić)

In the Love Stories Museum, you’ll also learn about local historical and mythical love stories of old Dubrovnik. There’s also a separate display dedicated to romantic plots featured in films and TV series that were filmed in Dubrovnik; think Game of Thrones, Robin Hood and Star Wars and a music section, introducing the visitors to the people who inspired some of the greatest love songs of all time.

(Photo credit: Antonia Kunjašić)

(Photo credit: Antonia Kunjašić)

Once you’re done looking around and swooning over the iconic romantic tales, you can leave your mark on the Love Wall – sign it, doodle a cute little pic, pin a couple selfie on it, and help create ‘the most romantic wall in the world’. The museum is located at Od Tabakarije 2, near Restaurant Orhan.

(Photo credit: Antonia Kunjašić)

Maksim Mrvica (Facebook)

2CELLOS have become international stars with their covers of popular hits and now top Croatian pianist Maksim Mrvica has followed suit with his own piano cover of a global hit.

Mrvica, who is the world’s biggest selling crossover pianist with over 4 million albums sold in 57 countries, has covered Johnny Legend’s 2013 hit ‘All of Me’.

The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, knocking off “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, which had spent 10 weeks at number one. It became the second best-selling song of 2014 in the United States with 4.67 million copies sold for the year.

Mrvica, who shot the video in an abandoned factory, will take his Croatian Rhapsody tour to Australia this September. Check out the video below.

2CELLOS cover 7 Nation Army

2CELLOS have warmed up for their upcoming performance at this weekend’s UEFA Champions League final by covering a hit widely played at big sporting events.

Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic covered the famous White Stripes song “7 Nation Army”. The duo, wearing the football shirts of the two teams in UEFA Champions League final, covered the Grammy award-winning hit.

The song is known for its underlying riff, which plays throughout most of the song. Although it sounds like a bass guitar, it is actually created by running a semi-acoustic guitar through a DigiTech Whammy pedal set down an octave.

The song is ranked as one of the greatest songs of the 2000s and is heard often at big sporting events. 2CELLOS will play the Champions League anthem in Kiev at this weekend’s final between Real Madrid and Liverpool.

Check it out below.