DUBROVNIK - KISADO

10 cuLture & events
cuLture & events
11
28 - 31/01/2010 Dubrovnik 2010 Festa A Festa is a local
celebration or feast, and in Dubrovnik at New Year it takes
the form of a four day festival of music and is in honour of
the city’s saint protector St Blaise. This charity event, now
in its 9th year, features stars from the world of Croatian pop
music as well as from other countries. Dubrovnik Sports
Hall, Gospino polje
Dubrovnik
telephone code is +385-20
The Feast of St Blaise
Falling on February 3, the Feast of St Blaise (Sveti Vlaho;
see p.30) is arguably the most important date in the
Dubrovnik calendar, bringing hordes of local people
onto the streets and showcasing a good deal of folkloric
tradition. In September 2009 the feast was included by
UNESCO on the so-called “Intangible Cultural Heritage”
list, which aims to nurture unique social rituals which have
a long and authentic history. The cult of St Blaise has been
central to Dubrovnik since the tenth century, and his feast
day is known to have been celebrated every year without
a break since at least 1190.
This year the whole of the first week in February will be
devoted to Blaise-related events of one form or another.
However the core festivities commence on February
2, when doves are released in front of St Blaise’s
Church by the Bishop of Dubrovnik. The next morning a
commemorative mass is held, followed at around 11:30 by
a solemn procession of priests and locals, many wearing
folk costume and waving large banners. The procession
heads up Od Puča before returning to the church via the
Stradun, watched by packed crowds of onlookers – many
of whom come regularly from other parts of Croatia to be
here on this day. Arm and leg reliquaries containing the
bones of St Blaise are carried among the throng, allowing
the faithful to touch them as they pass.
A fun-for-all-the-family party atmosphere takes over in
the evening of the 3rd, when locals re-enact a nineteenthcentury
open-air version of bingo known as the “tombula” in
front of the Sponza Palace. As in cheesy British bingo halls,
the caller attaches silly names to the numbers (number
77 is referred to as “ladies’ legs”), but in Dubrovnik - in
a fantastic improvement on the game of bingo as it is
played elsewhere - the losers are allowed to express
their dissatisfaction by throwing rotten eggs and oranges
at the caller.
Get crafty!
Deša is an organisati on
dedicated to assisting improving
the status of local women,
founded during the hard years
of the war. Among the group’s
activities is reviving crafts such
as weaving, embroidery and silk
production which were used in
making the colourful regional
folk costumes. Nowadays, the
group organises Patchwork
Workshops, and upon request for groups of more than
10, workshops on weaving, embroidery and making
sweet delicacies such as “arancini” (candied orange
peel) and “broštulani mjenduli (sugared almonds). You
might also be interested in a tiny shop, Vlaho slijepi
haberdashery, which is dedicated to preserving practical
dressmaking skills such as sewing buttons, mending
and shortening, and which also organises year-round
workshops including Christmas decorations in December
and masks in January and February.
Peace and harmony
Dubrovnik’s stone streets and iconic palaces, churches
and citadels form a stunning backdrop for contemplating
good music. The following concerts laid on for the holiday
season will allow you to enjoy the delights of the city with
all your senses.
15/12/2009 Dubrovnik Rotary Club humanitarian
concert: Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. Revelin fortress.
Concerts starts at 20:00.
Dubrovnik Chamber Choir at Knežev dvor, Marin Šperanda
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Mr Linea loves Dubrovnik!
Have you ever
heard of Mr Linea
(La Linea, or, in
Croatian, “Bajum
Bajum”)? The Italian
artist of this
miraculous little
cartoon figure, Osvaldo
Cavandoli,
created a little book of Dubrovnik motifs accompanied by
light-hearted but informative texts in Croatian, Italian and
English. Pick up a copy in the Artur gallery (see Shopping
pages), it makes a perfect memento.
23/12/2009 Christmas Gala Concert: Traditional
Christmas songs and tunes Dubrovnik Tourist Board &
Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. Revelin fortress
20/12/2009 Christmas Concert Dubrovnik Chamber
Choir. St Ignatius’ Church. Concerts starts at 19:30.
24/12/2009 Christmas Eve Christmas Carols In
Stradun Dubrovnik Brass Band March Past in Stradun
4 days of Carnival
February 13 - 16/02/2010 As in most other Mediterranean
countries, the carnival season occupies a hugely symbolic
position in the Dubrovnik calendar, representing the last
great party of the winter and acting as something of a
season-opener for the coming spring.
The days leading up to Shrove Tuesday have been a time
for dressing up and playing the fool ever since the medieval
era, when the carnival period was the one time of year when
the lower orders were allowed to make fun of their rulers
without being locked up. In Croatia this satirical tradition still
lives on, with many locals opting for carnival disguises which
satirize personalities who were in the news over the course
of the previous year.
This year’s Dubrovnik carnival spans four days, kicking off
on the morning of February 13th on Luža Square with the
Šporke makarule cooking competition - in which chefs from
Artur Gallery, Paper Mache carnival masks
the city’s hotels compete in preparing the traditional dish of
the title. Literally “dirty macaroni”, šporke makarule consists
of locally-made pasta drenched in delicious beef-goulash
sauce. It has long been a mainstay of every self-respecting
Dubrovnik housewife’s culinary repertoire, even if it hardly
ever appears on local restaurant menus.
Over the next three days
a series of fancy-dress
parades weave their way
through the Old Town, and
charity balls are held in
Revelin Fortress. For most
of the participants this
is a thoroughly modern
exercise in fancy dress,
although recent years have
seen the re-emergence of
some of the more ritualistic
carnival characters of old
Artur Gallery, Paper Mache
carnival masks
– strange, shaggy-haired monsters such as the gapingmouthed
Coroje and the long-necked Turica are unique
to the Dubrovnik region.You can get more information on
the Carnival from the Dubrovnik Tourist Association, www.
tzdubrovnik.hr.
The Lastovo Poklad To experience carnival traditions
at their most archaic then head for the island of Lastovo,
where a puppet known as the Poklad is ritually humiliated
and then burned in a symbolic farewell to the malevolent
spirits of winter. The rites takes up the whole of Shrove
Tuesday – the most spectacular part of the proceedings
coming when the poklad descends from the heights above
the village on a wire rope, the locals exploding fireworks as
it passes. Lastovo is needless to say full of visitors at this
time, and you’ll have to plan your visit well in advance if you
want to secure accommodation. www.lastovo.hr.
Dubrovnik In Your Pocket
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Winter 2009 - Spring 2010