Carnival 2009 in Ljubljana

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Phoning in search of an honest man

"If Diogenes today tried to repeat his search for an honest man, he might want to trade his lantern for a cell phone. And, instead of looking in Athens, he'd do better heading to Ljubljana, Slovenia. And staying away from Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur.

Reader's Digest decided to test the honesty of people around the world, so they had reporters in the largest cities in 32 countries 'lose' 30 cell phones in each location. The reporters then called each phone, and if a passerby picked up the phone and answered, asked if the person would return the phone. If the passerby picked up the phone without answering, they waited to see if the person would call one of the numbers programmed into the phone directory to try to find its owner.

In Ljubljana, smallest of the cities, with a population of about 267,000, 29 of the 30 phones were returned. In Hong Kong and the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, there were a meager 13 returns."

Source: chicagotribune.com

Queen Elizabeth II visiting Slovenia

This just in... according to sources at the British Embassy in Ljubljana, "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is visiting Slovenia today for two days. She will visit Lipica, Ljubljana castle, attend a Duke of Edinburgh Award ceremony at the Philharmonic and will go on a walk about Ljubljana at 14.30 tomorrow (Wednesday 22 October). For all those Brits and other expats who like to see her please feel free to come along, together with your friends and family, to Preseren Square for 14.30."

Days of European Cultural Heritage

The 2008 edition of The Days of European Cultural Heritage, organized under the initiative of the European Council and European Union, will be taking place from 20 to 27 September. This year the event will be dedicated to the life and work of Primož Trubar, one of Slovenia's most famous poets, father of the written Slovenian language, and leader of the Protestant movement in Slovenia

"Each year, the Slovenian Days of European Cultural Heritage feature a wide and varied programme of events organised by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia in collaboration with numerous institutions, societies and individuals."

Via Ljubljana.si

Summer Event Gap :-o)

Well, we missed a good bit of reporting on summer activities (everything actually) including the granddaddy of events, the Ljubljana Summer Festival. We will try to make it up, however, with more attentive coverage of events happening this fall, and there will be a good number of them.

Druga godba alternative music festival

Ljubljana's "Druga godba" (alternative music) festival is now underway until May 28th at Cankarjev dom, Križanke, and other local venues.

According to Ljubljana Life magazine, "the festival presents a variety of ethno and other styles, including new jazz, that generally do not appear at traditional music events in Slovenia. It has been on Ljubljana's music scene for over twenty years, and attracts a good number of musicians from around the world to the stages of Ljubljana's local venues, including Križanke, Cankarjev dom, and various city streets and squares. They acts may not all be well known, but the consensus is that the music is usually first rate."

More info at www.drugagodba.si

Tivoli Park Photo Exhibition

Am outdoor photographic exhibition by the world-renowned photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand is currently on display until May 29 at the Jakopič promenade in Ljubljana's Tivoli Park. The photographic exhibition, prepared by members of his international photographic foundation GoodPlanet.org, is titled Alive and features "wildlife photographs accompanied by facts and figures on human intervention in nature and issues related to the survival of animal species".

Ljubljana Carnival Festivities

This year's carnival celebration will kick off in Ljubljana tomorrow with a lively procession that will include traditional Slovenian themed carnival figures as well as figures from other countries. The procession will start at 11am at Krek square and proceed to Slovenska street via Prešeren square, with festivities winding up at about 4pm.

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