In August 2008 Bela Krajina staged its own rock festival again. Organizers called it Schengen Fest. Eight years later, after some bad weather, awkward selections of foreign bands, unexplained cancelations, unsettled accounts, conflicting interests and the border fence along the Kolpa River, the Schengen Fest is being laid to rest. This year the Dolenjska region will also miss its ŠVIC festival. "ŠVIC is not saying goodbye, it's just taking a year off. Because of the poor conditions on Slovenia's rock and festival market, there are currently no possibilities for the festival to improve and grow," is what Matej Novak told MMC.
So the story of success will be continued to be written by Tolmin, with its MetalDays and Punk Rock Holiday in the forefront. "We're very happy that both of these festivals have been so well accepted and become recognizable in Slovenia and the world. We have less than 500 tickets left for the MetalDays and the Punk Rock Holiday is already sold out," said the organizer of MetalDays Boban Milunović. What is the recipe for keeping a festival alive? "When organizing festivals you have to be resourceful, many time also persistent, and there isn’t much room for cheap maneuvers," stressed Milunović.
However apart from the Tolmin festival there are also other stories of persistency and resourcefulness. One of them is the GorA RockA festival, entirely based on volunteerism. "The festival is truly unique in Slovenia and the wider region. The GorA RockA festival is 100 percent charitable and is organized and carried out by more than 150 volunteers who prove that with good hard work it is possible to actively help society in achieving goals for a better tomorrow," said Matjaž Kosmač.
Ever more ambitious in attracting big music names is Laško, with its traditional Pivo in cvetje (Beer and flowers) festival. A novelty this year will be the symbolic entrance ticket of 2 euros, the same as you would pay for a large beer. There will be fewer changes on the banks of the Drava River, where the Lent Festival will take place between the 24th of June and the 2nd of July. This year's Lent will be similar to last year's, which means that it will once again be shorter than in previous years.
Just like last year the capital will once again host the UD Festival, with a program targeting a niche audience group. There is also some encouraging news coming from the organizers of Trnfest.