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The Raindance Film Festival comes to London this autumn – with a number of Balkan films

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Raindance Film Festival

Europe’s leading independent film festival, the Raindance Film Festival, is now in its 20th year and is returning to London from 26th September to 7th October 2012. The festival has been listed by Variety magazine as one of the world’s top 50 “unmissable film festivals” – so make sure you come and enjoy the excellent line-up of films this year!

Featuring independent films from across the world, this year’s festival will also include screenings of a number of interesting films from the Balkans – from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Montengro.

Vegetarian Cannibal
Vegetarian Cannibal

Croatia’s entry is Vegetarian Cannibal – thought-provoking to the point of shocking, Vegetarian Cannibal is a riveting character study of a ruthlessly amoral gynaecologist aided by a society that prefers not to look too closely. The film will be screened on Saturday 29th September at 1pm, and Saturday 6th October at 9pm.

The State of Shock
The State of Shock

Slovenia has several entries at the festival, including The State of Shock – a film set in 1986 Communist Yugoslavia where socialist worker Peter falls into a shock-induced catatonic state after winning ‘Worker of the Year’. 10 years later he awakens to a radically different world, where everything he once knew is now history. This will be screened on Friday 28th September at 3.30pm, and Sunday 30th September at 5.45pm.

Shanghai Gypsy is a love story a love story about four generations, narrated by gypsy king, Lutvija Belmondo Mirga, whose business goes bad after the downfall of Yugoslavia. He must decided whether to protect his own family or sacrifice his personal happiness for business ambitions. Screening on Tuesday 2nd October at 8pm.

Good Night Missy tells the tale of Hannah and Sam, a young couple with a house, a wonderful daughter and well paid work. Then the comfortable family routine starts cracking because of lies, a lack of trust and jealousy… Showing on Thursday 4th October at 1.15pm and Saturday 6th October at 8.30pm.

Serbia’s entries include Loveless Zoritsa (joint with Poland/Cyprus and Greece), which is being screened on Friday 28th September at 5.45pm and Monday 1st October at 3.15pm. Is Zoritsa a serial killer or just a girl bearing an extraordinary curse?

The Practical Guide to Belgrade With Singing and Crying
The Practical Guide to Belgrade With Singing and Crying

The Practical Guide to Belgrade With Singing and Crying (Serbia, Germany, France) is a contemporary romantic comedy about the trials of finding the right person – told through four completely different love stories. Showing on Saturday 6th October at 6.15pm.

All films are to be shown at the Apollo Piccadilly Cinema (19 Lower Regent Street, SW1Y 4LR) in Central London You can book tickets either online on the Apollo Cinemas website or by calling 0871 224 0242.

Full details about the festival and a listing of all films to be screened can be found at www.raindance.co.uk.

Raindance Film Festival
26th September – 7th October 2012
Apollo Cinema
19 Lower Regent Street
SW1Y 4LR

Dodgeball Supercar Rally

Dodgeball Supercar Rally comes to Croatia!

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This year’s Dodgeball Supercar Rally – which kicks off in London on 26th June – will be making its way down Croatia’s gorgeous coastal roads for the first time ever!

Dodgeball Supercar Rally

Bringing together some of the world’s finest and rarest cars, the Rally makes an annual visit to Saint Tropez in the South of France after navigating a scenic route through some of the prettiest parts of Europe. This year, the route will first take in a country chateau in the Rhone Valley; a drive through Italy (and a stop at Ferrari’s factory), including a night in Venice; heading through Slovenia on to the stunning Croatian coastline (including a stay in a beach hotel); and a cross-Adriatic ferry over to Ancona and a drive on to Rimini before reaching its usual final destination. The last part of the Rally will see the drive to St Tropez for the opening party of the VIP Rooms, as well as viewing the FIA GT Championship & The Blancpain Endurance series and the opportunity to race around the Paul Ricard track.

Dodgeball Supercar Rally

For those interested in entering, the fee is £3,250 per person, based on two sharing – although if you’re in possession of a supercar, that’s seems like very good value! The price includes everything on the rally, including 5-star accommodation, lunch stops, ferries, parties and more.

Full details about the Dodgeball Supercar Rally can be found at www.dodgeballrally.com.

Echo Festival (22nd-24th June in Makarska) releases its line-up!

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We know that we whet the appetites of many of you party animals out there with our previous post on the brand-new-for-2012 Echo Festival that’s taking place in Makarska on the weekend of 22nd to 24th June – and we’re sure that many of you have already got your ticket orders in.

But here’s more good news – Echo Festival have announced their line-up! Names on the bill include Koreless (Live), Pariah, Midland – who are all appearing on the Simply Stage – and Inxec, Droog and Cozzy D., who will be on the DJ & Sound Stage as well as many, many more – plus further names that are to be announced in due course.

Echo Festival Flyer Line Up

There will also be showcases and daily beach parties from the likes of Krankbrother, Creche, Moody Disco, Simply Vinyl and more.

Oh, and – as if this wasn’t enough good news – there are still tickets available for £35 for the weekend (which is truly mind-bogglingly good value) for only a short time more, so do make sure you and your friends snap them up soon.

For full line-up details (as announced so far) and other information on the festival and to purchase tickets, please go to www.echofestival.com.

Croatian Summer Salsa Festival in Rovinj this June!

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Great news for the dancers out there – the 8th Croatian Summer Salsa Festival will be in Rovinj this June! Held from 19th to 24th June, the festival is being billed as a “unique sea, sun and salsa” event where participants of all abilities can learn to dance or show off all their dancing skills, as well as relaxing and enjoying a great time in a beautiful setting.

Croatian Summer Salsa Festival, Rovinj

This year’s Festival will feature many exciting components, including open air dance and music points throughout the town of Rovinj; over 90 hours of workshop dance classes; a live music concert on 21st June; some of the best salsa DJs in the world; three different dance floors (each with their own different salsa style); indoor and outdoor parties; a special post-festival boat party; passes for both the girls and guys (for classes and parties); and much more! With over 2,000 dancers and dance-fans gathering in Rovinj, it’s sure to be a very fun Festival!

Croatian Summer Salsa Festival, Rovinj

For those looking for something a little different, the Summer Sensual Days – a sensual dance festival – will also be held in the same town from 15th to 17th June 2012. (For the very keen dancers amongst you, why not combine the two events for eleven fun-filled days?)

Croatian Summer Salsa Festival, Rovinj

For more details and to find out how to attend the Croatian Summer Salsa Festival, check out the full details on the official website at www.crosalsafestival.com.

Croatian Summer Salsa Festival
19th – 24th June 2012
Rovinj

A new festival for 2012 – Echo Festival, Makarska 22nd-24th June

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Echo Festival

Fantastic news for all those revellers looking to party it up on the Croatian coast this summer – a brand new festival has joined the very extensive list of festivals taking place in the country this year. The Echo Festival is the latest addition to the Croatian festival line-up, taking place in the beautiful town of Makarska on the weekend of 22nd to 24th June 2012.

This intimate and friendly festival is perfect for those who love their dance and electronic music and want to enjoy it on Croatia’s wonderful coastline. As anyone who has been to Makarska can attest, the Festival will have a fantastic location (as well as being easy to reach from the nearest airport in Split) in one of the most beautiful spots on the Adriatic coastline, with plenty to enjoy in the town and nearby . The actual Festival site itself is a short walk from the centre of Makarska, on a bay with a private pebble beach that will boast two sound systems – the main beachside stage (so you can actually dance it up on the beach or even in the sea!) and in the licensed bar which has a fully shaded dancefloor.

The music programme will run from 12pm to 5am (that’s 17 solid hours!) with a mix of funk, disco, soul and reggae plus the best of UK bass, garage and deep house well into the night. Acts that have already been confirmed on the line-up include Cozzy D, Alexis Raphael, Lee Brinx and Max Chapman, with many more to be announced.

Echo FestivalBetter still, Echo Festival are offering a truly superb early-bird ticket offer – only £35 for the three day-event! Be sure to take advantage of this great deal and snap up your tickets very soon.

To book tickets, and for more details on the Festival, take a look at echofestival.com or www.facebook.com/echocroatia.

Sucata Rallies’ Charity Rally to Split returns for 2012!

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Sucata Split

News reaches us of a fantastically fun charity rally event that will take place through Europe this year, winding up in Croatia!

Sucata Rallies organise a number of “old banger” charity rally events that take place across Europe each year (others include runs through Europe down to Portugal and Budapest), with their fabulous Sucata Split event returning for 2012.

This year, the event will take place from 31st May to 4th June (a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK!), starting in Bruges in Belgium and ending – of course! – in the wonderful Croatian city of Split on the Dalmatian coast. Inbetween, participants will travel through seven countries; as well as the starting and end points in Belgium and Croatia, the route takes in France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Slovenia with the Alps also getting a visit.

Teams must participate in old bangers that cannot cost more than £350, and are highly encouraged to dress up both themselves and their vehicle in fancy dress as much as possible! Each team is required to pay a very reasonable £25 per person (with a limit of £100 per vehicle) to register, and is then set a target of raising £250 per person that goes to the charity Gemin-i, who are involved in organising the event.

Sucata Rallies

Gemin-i is an educational charity that helps children around the world share ideas and work together for a brighter future, with the aim of encouraging them to take action, thereby promoting positive change around the world. They bring together over 40,000 children in 2,700 schools across 120 countries to educate them about some of the world’s biggest issues such as malaria, HIV and AIDS, human rights and conflict resolution. The charity does this through online resources and by helping children share their ideas via internet forums and debates.

In particular, money that will be raised by those taking part in the Sucata Split rally will support the HIV360 project. With someone becoming infected with HIV every 12 seconds, the HIV360 project raises awareness, connects people around the world and supports them to take action on HIV and AIDS. The project will reach tens of thousands of children across the world, and every £250 raised will help schools raise the understanding by their students of HIV as well as increasing their chances of avoiding infection. More on the charity can be found on their website www.gemin-i.org.

If you’re interesting in taking part in what’s no doubt going to be a fantastically fun event, read up more about it on the Sucata Rallies website and register yourself and your team – what are you waiting for?!

Festivals in Croatia - Tisno

A new venue for Croatia’s festivals (well, some of them)

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Anyone thinking about attending one of Croatia’s (many) great festivals may have seen the announcement not so long ago the site used in the village of Petrcane – home to The Garden Festival, Electric Elephant, Soundwave, Suncebeat and Stop Making Sense – was a no go for 2012. Concerns from the owners of the site, the Hotel Pinija, on how the festivals impacted guests staying at the hotel meant a new venue had to be found for these festivals for next year.

These concerns by the site owners were perhaps not entirely justified, but that’s not an issue I’m going to discuss here! I did read a number of articles in the Croatian press, however, about the negative impact (i.e. loss of tourist revenue) that losing these festivals from the Zadar region would have. (So it’s good to see they haven’t moved that far – read on below.)

Festivals in Croatia - Tisno
Tisno – you could be here next year!

Today, many of these festivals announced a new venue for 2012 – in the village of Tisno, which is roughly halfway between the town of Zadar and the city of Split. My immediate thought is that this will mean a significant number of additional travel options for partygoers attending any of these festivals, as there are many, many flights from the UK (and from elsewhere in Europe) to Split. (Of course, attendees in previous years could also have flown to Split too – but this just makes things a little easier!)

This news on the change of venue is “hot off the presses”, so I’d advise taking a close look at the festivals’ websites and Facebook pages (and Twitter too) for additional information as and when they release it.

Check out the latest news from the following sites – more is surely still to come very soon.

  • The Garden Festival (4th – 11th July): The Garden Tisno Facebook group
  • Soundwave (20th – 23rd July): their Facebook group should have news today!
  • SunceBeat (27th – 29th July): updated website
  • Stop Making Sense (2nd – 6th August) updated website

There’s also some news from Electric Elephant (12th – 16th July) via their Twitter feed.

And for some early travel planning check out the following pages from Visit Croatia:

Alternatively, check out what other festivals are taking place in the country in our Festivals in Croatia section – more information being added all the time!

Other than that – start thinking about partying it up in the summer of 2012. It’s going to be a good one!

Zagreb’s Museum of Broken Relationships comes to the Tristan Bates Theatre in London!

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Museum of Broken Relationships

In just under a month’s time, the much talked about Museum of Broken Relationships from Zagreb will be presented at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden, London. Winner of the Kenneth Hudson Award for the most innovative museum in Europe in the European Museum Awards 2011, the Museum displays items donated by people from around the world that symbolise or have had significant meaning in a past relationship.

This summer, the exhibition will be displayed in two venues in London – at the Tristan Bates Theatre and at 38 Earlham Street, both in Covent Garden – and will feature objects from the permanent collection, as well as new donations. The Theatre has also commissioned several artists to create original work inspired by items donated meaning that the exhibition will also be accompanied by some wonderful events featuring music, visual art, drama and interactive live exhibits.

Artists featured will include, amongst others, Booker Prize-winning novelist and poet Ben Okri; agony aunt, writer and broadcaster Imra Kurtz; Zimbabwean-born vocalist and musician Eska Mtungwazi; the Guerilla Dance Project, who mix inventive choreography with social interaction; story-makers Firehouse Creative Productions; and photographer Peter Bennett.

Events taking place during the exhibition’s run include a special First Date Night, with the exhibition open only to couples to their first date; a Ceilidh; Midnight Puppetry; an Outdoor Cinema Screening and much more.

As mentioned above, the Museum is looking for new donations to add to this summer’s exhibition. A unique opportunity to be part of the award-winning exhibition, you can find full details of how to donate here. Donations will be accepted up to 8th August, with select items put on display. Items will be displayed anonymously and cannot be returned.

The exhibition will be open Monday to Saturday 10am to 10pm, and on Sundays 10am to 5pm. Tickets cost £3.50, and are valid for repeat visits within one week of purchase.

Full details of the Museum of Broken Relationships at the Tristan Bates Theatre can be found at www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk/Production_Details_museum_of_broken_relationships.asp.

Tristan Bates Theatre Presents The Museum of Broken Relationships
15th August – 4th September 2011
www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk

Arts & Crafts Fun Festival on Hvar this summer

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If you’re visiting Hvar this May and June – or wish to improve on your creative talents in a beautiful setting – you may well be interested to hear about a fantastic arts and crafts festival that is taking place in Hvar Town. Running from 28th May through to the 18th June, the inaugural Arts and Crafts Fun Festival will be running a number of workshops that will enable participants to pick up a new skill or learn a new craft – all on the wonderful setting that is the island of Hvar. Truly, a fantastic way of doing something creative – or doing something a little different during your holiday in Croatia!

Hvar
Hvar – so beautiful!

The Festival will be holding workshops that will each last six days with two three-hour sessions per day, with each day building on the previous day’s study. Workshops include papier-mache, silk and wool creative felting, silver craft and calligraphy, with each being run by experts in these fields, from both Croatia and abroad. All classes will be run in English, so you don’t have to worry about any tricky language barriers! All workshops will be held in the Hotel Podstine, where you can also stay (taking advantage of a special discount associated with the festival).

Workshops are limited to 20 participants, so you can be sure that you will be getting the most from a workshop and its instructor. Each workshop costs 300 Euros, although there is a 15% discount for anyone eager enough to sign up to two or more. A 100 Euro deposit is required to sign up to a workshop.

The Festival isn’t all about working hard and learning, however – and that’s where the “Fun” element of its name comes into play! There will be many additional activities and events scheduled, including sailing and cycling excursions, exhibitions and parties, with welcome events being held each Saturday as an introduction to the Festival and its new participants.

Applications for the Festival can be made on the official website – www.acffcroatia.com – where additional information can also be found.

Arts and Crafts Fun Festival
28th May – 18th June 2011
Hvar Town, island of Hvar, Croatia
www.acffcroatia.com

Dubrovnik Carnival Fest

Dubrovnik Carnival Fest comes to a close

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The final weekend of the first ever Dubrovnik Carnival Fest is already upon us, and there are a number of events taking place today, tomorrow and Sunday that will delight visitors and residents of Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik Carnival Fest

Tonight, 4th March, will see carnival participants from five countries (Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Slovenia and Croatia) take part in a carnival parade down Stradun at 8.30pm, followed by at party at the Carnival Park at 9pm (and open until 2am!) with live music.

Saturday, 5th March sees another parade take place on Stradun at 11am, with the above five carnival groups from Croatia and abroad once again taking part, presenting their original costumes and carnival performances in front of the Church of St Blaise.

Saturday evening sees the music final take place at Culture Club Revelin, with 16 songs battling it out to be crowned champion of the Dubrovnik Carnival Fest. There will also be performances from the Metropolitan Circus from Tirana, Albania, plus music from the Strumica (Macedonia) orchestra and choir, performing traditional Macedonian songs. A party until the early hours of the morning will then delight revellers, with Croatian pop band Magazin singing some of their hits.

Dubrovnik Carnival Fest

Sunday will be the final day of the Carnival Fest, with a parade once again taking place on Stradun from 11am, culminating in a final performance in front of the Church of St Blaise, with the winning songs from the previous night’s award ceremony performed.