New Year's Eve in Ljubljana

Tonight is the night for Ljubljana's big open-air New Year's Eve celebrations, which will be taking place at Prešernov trg, Mestni trg and Kongresni trg, along with the city's traditional midnight fireworks display launched from the top of Ljubljana's Castle Hill to mark the beginning of the new year.

Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe)

"The 18th Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe), the biggest event of its kind in Slovenia, will feature over 100 films from around the globe between 7 to 21 November. The festival will open with the independent US production 'The Darjeeling Limited' by Wes Anderson.

Special attention will be given to national cinematographies and tributes to masters of contemporary film, LIFFe's new programme director Simon Popek told the press on Tuesday. Film lovers will have two full weeks to see the very best of world cinematographies packed into twelve programme sections according to type of film."

Source: GCO

Naked Stage - 6th international improvisational theatre festival

The 6th international Naked Stage improvisational theatre festival will be taking place from 23 - 28 October and from 2 - 6 November at KUD France Prešeren, Karunova ulica 14.

"The Naked Stage (Goli oder) festival has made a name for itself as one of the most important festivals of improvisational theatre in the European and North American region. Placing a special emphasis on the experimental dimension of improvisational theatre, it offers an interesting selection of contemporary improvisational theatre productions."

Via Ljubljana.si

More information: www.goli-oder.org.

1st Slovenian Flamenco Festival - SIFF

This month will see Ljubljana hosting the very first "Slovenian Flamenco Festival" which will take place at various venues through October 22nd and will consist of music workshops and concerts dedicated to traditional Spanish flamenco music and dance. The festival will feature numerous world renowned flamenco artists, including the famous Spanish guitarist Paco Peña.

More information is available at www.siff.si.

Ex Ponto - 14th international festival of contemporary theatre

Ljubljana's Ex Ponto festival will be taking place at various venues arount the cety centre from 11 through 26 September.

"Ex Ponto is an international festival of contemporary theatre focusing on theatre productions dealing with provocative, socially relevant themes. In the Slovenian cultural area it is considered to be one of the major international theatre festivals. It is accompanied by a programme of exhibitions, dance performances, multimedia projects, film screenings, concerts, etc."

More information is available at www.exponto.net.

Via Ljubljana.si

27th Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts

This year's Biennial of Graphic arts in now underway at Ljubljana's International Centre for Graphic Arts through 28 October.

"The Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts is the world's biggest and one of the most renowned events of the kind. During its 50-year history it has received huge acclaim from artists, experts and public alike. This time, the Biennial is centred around a groundbreaking moment in the history of arts when the notion of the original and the copy was dramatically changed by technological possibilities in reproducible art. Going back to the Renaissance, reproducible art had a crucial impact on the 20th century art and is still relevant today."

Via Ljubljana.si

48th Ljubljana Jazz Festival

This year's Ljubljana Jazz Festival will be taking place at Cankarjev dom from the 28th through the 30th of June.

"Bringing together big names in international jazz, Ljubljana Jazz Festival traditionally attracts music lovers from both Slovenia and abroad. The forthcoming 48th edition of the Festival will feature artists such as Tomasz Stanko, Matthew Shipp, Bill Laswell, Nils Petter Molvaer, Vlatko Stefanovski, Omar Sosa and several others."

Via Ljubljana.si

Midsummer Night on the Ljubljanica River

We're not really sure if this is anything to get excited about, but apparently there will be some kind of procession of decorated boats heading down the Ljubljanica tomorrow evening starting at 10pm.

Ljubljana Street Theatre

Ljubljana's Ana Desetnica festival is an annual festival of street theatre, now in its 10th year. This year's festival will feature numerous performances by international street artists and will take place from 27 June 'til 1 July at various open air locations. So if you happen to be wandering about in Ljubljana's old town be sure to keep your eyes open for clowns, circus performers, actors, jugglers, fire eaters, musicians, dancers, and other unexpected surprises!

Marilyn Manson in Ljubljana

Well, the Marilyn Manson concert is indeed happening in Ljubljana tonight. Passing by the Krizanke concert complex earlier today, it was a bit strange to feel the ground outside rattling during the rehearsal. Curiosity got the best of us and we almost managed to sneak inside for a closer look but unfortunately got turned back by the guards at the inner gate. Parked outside the complex were two huge trucks and a couple of tour buses belonging to Manson's ground crew.

Ljubljana Festival 2007

Ljubljana Life Magazine has just published an overview of this year's Ljubljana Summer Festival:

"Most performances will take place at the Križanke summer theatre, an architectural jewel and a rather unique complex designed by the famous Slovenian architect, Jože Plečnik. Other performances will also take place high above the city at the Ljubljana Castle, as well as at the traditional and more intimate Slovenian Philharmonic Hall, and also at the vast and modern Gallus Hall of the Cankarjev dom Centre.

The Ljubljana Summer Festival will be very generous to opera lovers this year. Six opera performances will greatly enrich the musical atmosphere of the metropolis during the long hot days of summer. The Festival will start (July 2nd, additional performances on July 4th and 5th) with the new co-production by the Ljubljana and Maribor Opera Theatres of Borodin's work Prince Igor."

Via Ljubljana Life Magazine

Ljubljana Attracting More and More Visitors

"Slovenia's capital is attracting a growing number of visitors from the country and abroad. According to statistics released by the Ljubljana Tourist Board on Wednesday, 6 June, tourist info points in Ljubljana recorded 69,079 visitors in the first five months of the year, up 33% year-on-year.

In May alone the number of visitors stood at 20,288, which is up 41% over the same month last year."

Source: STA

Aussie wins Slovenia Big Brother Contest

An Australian contestant on Slovenia's popular Big Brother reality TV show has claimed the grand prize this weekend:

"HE'S got a Big Brother house right at his doorstep, but Aussie Andrej Novak travelled all the way to Slovenia to compete on the reality TV series - and won.

The 27-year-old Gold Coaster took home €75,000 ($120,000) on claiming the top prize in the Central European nation's first BB series.

Novak, who has a Slovenian background, spoke mostly English in the house because he didn't feel confident using the native tongue.

Always a scene stealer, he was one of 12 housemates who entered the 300sq m house in the capital Ljubljana on March 17."

Source: News.com.au

Summer Museum Night

This year's Summer Museum Night in Ljubljana will take place on 16 June from 10am til Midnight:

"Museum Summer Night, an annual summer event organised by Ljubljana's museums and galleries, will feature a programme of workshops, demonstrations, film screenings, concerts, etc. concluding with a party held at the International Graphic Arts Centre, located in the Tivoli Mansion (Grad Tivoli). Admission to all museums and galleries will be free"

Via Ljubljana.si

Update:
Apart from looking at the museum exhibitions until late in the evening, visitors will also be allowed to engage in various activities such as fine art workshops for children, students, and adults, lectures and performances, films and video presentations, as well as guided visits, music, etc.

Here is the full list of museums and galleries in Ljubljana taking part in the event (apologies in advance for not translating the titles from Slovene, but if you're thinking of visiting any this weekend, it would be helpful to know the Slovene names anyway ;-)

Arhitekturni muzej Ljubljana, Bežigrajska galerija 1 in 2, Cankarjev dom, Društvo likovnih umetnikov Ljubljana, Galerija Ars, Galerija Fotografija, Galerija Hest, Galerija Hest 35, Galerija Kresija, Galerija Škuc, KUD France Prešeren, Ljubljanski grad, Mala galerija, Mednarodni grafični likovni center, Mestni muzej Ljubljana, Moderna galerija Ljubljana, Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije, Narodna galerija, Narodni muzej Slovenije, Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije, Mestna galerija Ljubljana, Muzej športa, Slovenski etnografski muzej, Slovenski šolski muzej, Tehniški muzej Slovenije, Zavod za kiparstvo v Grubarjevi kiparski galeriji, Železniški muzej Slovenskih železnic.

Ljubljana Summer Festival 2007

The Ljubljana Summer Festival will take place from 26 June through 14 September. The festival offers a very rich and diverse musical programme featuring well-known artists from across the globe.

"Ljubljana Festival is Slovenia's oldest event of its kind. Its beginnings date back to 1952, when the Ljubljana Tourist Society organized the first Tourist Week to be followed a year later by the first edition of Ljubljana Festival. Every year, the Festival, organised by the Festival Ljubljana event management company, attracts about 50,000 visitors from Slovenia and abroad.

Highlights of this year’s festival will include performances by State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Marjana Lipovšek, Vadim Repin, Krzysztof Penderecki and many others."

More information is available at: www.ljubljanafestival.si.

Via Ljubljana.si

National Gallery Displays Model of Giotto's Chapel

Ljubljana's National Gallery has opened an exhibition of the famous early Italian Renaissance artist Giotto, along with six of his contemporaries. The exhibition, which lasts until September 30, includes a 1/3 scale model of Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel in the Italian city of Padova,

"The model preserves well the beauty of Giotto's masterpiece, said Davide Banzato, the head of the Padova Civic Museums. He added that Giotto was the central arts figure in the Italian city in the 14th century.

"Giotto painted over 700 square metres of the Scrovegni family chapel. One of his most striking images is on the arched ceiling, which he embellished with more than 800 stars on a blue background."

Via GCO

Iron Maiden Starts European Tour in Ljubljana

British heavy metal band, Iron Maiden, started its summer European tour at Ljubljana's Bezigrad stadium on Saturday. The current tour marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the band's seminal album "The Number of the Beast". Their first album, "Iron Maiden" was released in 1980, and quickly rose to the top of British music charts. During Saturday's concert in Ljubljana the band played songs from their latest album "A Matter of Life and Death" as well as many older hits.

Little Slovenia, part of the Big Fiber Dream �

Om Malik, a well-known technology industry figure, has published an interesting article about Slovenia's plans for deploying fiber optic cables directly to individual homes in the country:

"Slovenia is one of those tiny nations you may have heard off but may have difficulty finding on the map. Independent for about 16 years, the country with a population of over 2 million was carved out of the old Yugoslavia. Despite its diminutive size, it is one of the important players in the fiber-to-the-home revolution that is slowly sweeping the world.

The local incumbent, Telekom Slovenije, has launched a project, F2, a massive fiber to the home project that will get 50,000 Slovenian homes fiber-based broadband access. That may not sound like much, but it still is an important piece that adds to the overall FTTH deployments worldwide, which are slowly and steadily increasing."

Anyone who is interested to find out more about Telekom Slovenia's plans should checkout the interesting commentary at the end of the article.

Source: GigaOM

Ljubljana Wine Fair

The 2007 Ljubljana wine fair titled "Moje vino" (My Wine) will take place at the Ljubljana Fairgrounds from the 31st of May until the 2nd of June.

The fair will feature an international wine competition followed by a Slovenian wine makers' and vintners' show. Visitors to the fair are welcome to join wine tasting sessions as well as learn about various wine-related topics, such as the best ways to serve wines with various foods, etc.

300 Years of the Ljubljana Cathedral

"The Ljubljana cathedral, also referred to as the Church of St. Nicholas, is located where a church dedicated to St. Nicholas already stood in the Middle Ages. It was consecrated on 8 May 1707.
The baroque hall church was built between 1701 and 1706 according to plans by Jesuit architect Andrea Pozzo, the dome however was not finished before the 19th century.
The church's surviving Baroque interior includes frescoes by Giulio Quaglio, the statues of four bishops of Emona by sculptor Angelo Putti, Putti's painting of Dean Janez Anton Dolnicar, the initiator of the church's construction, and altar angels by sculptures Francesco Robba and the brothers Paolo and Giuseppe Groppelli."

Via GCO

Lipizzaner Day in Ljubljana

On Saturday 19 May, the Lipica Equestrian Center will mark Lipizzaner Day in cooperation with the Ljubljana Tourism Board. Two carriages drawn by Lipizzaner horses will be brought from Lipica, along with one from the Hungarian Szilvasvarad Equestrian Center with five Lipizzaner horses. Courtesy of the Lipica Equestrian Center, the people of Ljubljana will be offered free carriage rides between Krek and Prešeren Squares from 10 am to 1 pm. The first festive ride will be taken by the Mayor of the Ljubljana, Zoran Janković.

Druga Godba Music Festival

The 23th Druga Godba International Festival of alternative & world music will take place in Ljubljana from 21 to 28 May.

"The Druga Godba festival of ethnic, world and, to a lesser extent, contemporary jazz music, celebrates its 23rd anniversary this year. This year's edition of the festival will bring together 12 artists from 14 countries from all the five continents. The line-up will notably include the world's most popular tango-fusion band Gotan Project and the renowned Portuguese fado singer Mariza (pictured above)."

For more information, visit the festival's official website.

Via Ljubljana.si

Laibach in Ljubljana

The Slovene industrial rock band Laibach will be performing in Ljubljana on Friday, May 18th at the Križanke Summer Theatre, Trg francoske revolucije 1

"Laibach is an internationally renowned Slovenian alternative band who developed their distinctive artistic expression in collaboration with the NSK (Neue Slowenische Kunst) artistic movement. Laibach's music is a unique mixture of industrial, rock, contemporary classical and electronic music. Using the provocative symbolism and aesthetics related to totalitarian ideologies, the band, founded in 1980, won recognition as a distinctive cultural phenomenon back in the times when Slovenia was still part of the communist Yugoslavia."

Via Ljubljana.si

Giant Strawberry Cake Invades Ljubljana!

In yet another attempt to put Slovenia into the Guinness Book of World Records, the Swiss-based catering company Marche baked a 400-metre-long strawberry cake and offered 5,000 slices at € 1 each to crowds in Ljubljana's Zvezda Park on Saturday.

Proceeds from the sale went to a charity helping children with cancer and blood-related diseases. The gigantic cake contained over 1,000 kilos of strawberries and 500 kilos of dough.

Interview with Ljubljana's Mayor

The spring edition of Ljubljana Life magazine has published an interesting interview with Ljubljana's recently elected mayor, Zoran Jankovic. In the interview he describes how his current job is a seemingly minor evolutionary step from the work of his previous job as CEO of Slovenia's largest retailer, Mercator. Also of note is how he describes his ideal vision of Ljubljana as a cross between Barcelona and Vienna.

For anyone interested to read the full interview, it is also posted online.

Graduation Dancing Parade

"Get ready for the ground to shake, as well as countless traffic problems, as Ljubljana's secondary school graduates will perform yet another Guinness record-breaking synchronous quadrille dance parade in 36 towns and cities across Slovenia and beyond."

The parade will take place on 18 May at 12:00. For more information contact the Ljubljana tourist center, Tel: +386 1 306 12 15, tic@ljubljana-tourism.si.

Via Ljubljana Life Magazine

Slovene Music Days Festival

Apologies for the long gap following the previous post. There is always a lot happening on the Slovenian musical and cultural scene, but we'll do the best we can to keep up with major events such as this year's Slovene Music Days festival at Philharmonic Hall, which is just coming to a close (22 - 25 April).

Slovene Music Days is an annual festival of contemporary Slovene music. This year's festival programme comprised a range of concerts of classical music featuring mainly works by contemporary Slovenian composers performed by well-known Slovene orchestras (the RTV Orchestra, the RTV Big Band, and the Slovene Philharmonic) as well as soloists.

The theme of this year's festival was about music and globalisation. For more info contact Festival Ljubljana, Tel: +386 1 241 60 00, info@ljubljanafestival.si.

Ljubljana's funicular tram

Here is a view from Ljubljana's new funicular tram, which went into operation at the end of 2006 and has proven to be a hit with tourists and locals alike. The cost for a one-way ticket on the tram, which connects the main city marketplace to the Ljubljana Castle, is 2 euro.

"The idea of building a funicular leading to the castle was first considered at the end of the 19th century by the then mayor of Ljubljana, Ivan Hribar. In his letter to the Austro-Hungarian authorities he wrote: 'As the rooms [of Ljubljana Castle] offer an enchanting view, and the castle's shady courtyard could easily be put to a good use, the castle would – if a lift was built and a fare of ten kreutzers or less was charged for a ride to the top – always be well visited, particularly so on summer evenings.' Mayor Hribar's vision, dating back to 1897, will this year turn to reality."
Via Ljubljana Life Magazine

Slovenian Day of Culture

Slovenia's Day of Culture will take place on February 8, and admission to most of Ljubljana's public museums and galleries will be free. "The Slovenian Day of Culture is a public holiday commemorating the death anniversary of France Prešeren, the greatest Slovenian poet. France Prešeren (1800-1849) was a Romantic poet who made a name for himself also for his endeavours to modernize the Slovenian language. He is particularly renowned for his sonnets."
Via Ljubljana.si

Plečnik Year in Slovenia

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of the Slovenia's most famous architect Jože Plečnik. In addition to the opening of a special exhibit in the National Gallery "Plečnik Year will also be marked by numerous other events held in Ljubljana. The Architecture Museum of Ljubljana has currently been re-staging its permanent Plečnik exhibition. To further mark Plečnik Year, it will run a series of lectures and expert guided tours of Plečnik's Ljubljana. The tours, available free of charge, will be run every first Saturday of the month, each time drawing special attention to a different masterpiece of Plečnik's."
Via Ljubljana.si