Maribor’s main festival modest this year, advertised too late

Programme yet to be announced

27. april 2016 ob 7.37 • Maribor - MMC RTV SLO

It had already been much shorter and more modest last year, since the finances of the organiser, i.e. Narodni dom Maribor, are tight. Foto: MMC RTV SLO

The biggest, most visited festival in Štajerska and one of the most renowned events across Slovenia, the Lent Festival, will be fairly modest this year, too.

It had already been much shorter and more modest last year, since the finances of the organiser, i.e. Narodni dom Maribor, are tight. For the same reason, the programme of this year’s festival in yet to be announced, although timely promotion abroad is of key importance for such festival. According to Maribor’s Office of Tourism, the advertising of the festival should have begun in January.

The central location of this year’s Lent will be the Leon Štukelj Square, which will take over the role of the main stage by the Drava River. The square will host opera an ballete performances as well as the majority of Folkart. Music performances will take place at the Judiciary Tower (Sodni stolp), Jurček’s stage (Jurčkov oder), and the Salon of practical art (Salon uporabnih umetnosti), while the fate of the popular Večer’s stage is still to be decided. The promenade continues to host the traditional culinary Sladolent, and the ArtKamp in the city park will again welcome children. The venues have been announced, but the programme remains a mystery. Marketing the festival abroad is thus difficult.

“The events which are announced in advance, are served much too late. Actually, our first promotional activities have already concluded,” explains Janja Viher from Maribor’s Office of Tourism, which cooperates with the organiser in marketing activities for the festival. The plan for future years is to attract as many foreign tourists as possible. “That would encourage the people to spend the night in our city, which didn’t seem to be the case during the past Lent festivals,” argues Viher.

The festival will take place between 24 June and 2 July. Similarly to last year, it will be slightly stunted and shortened to nine days. “The problem isn’t so much the intensity of the days but, rather, the quality of the programmes on offer. What matters in tourism are at least two or three highlights, with which one addresses the visitors, trying to persuade them to attend the festival – not a month or two before the festival but at least six months beforehand,” warns Viher.

However, the organiser will have to work very hard this year to gather the necessary funds. The municipality of Maribor will contribute 200,000 euros. The organiser, Narodni dom, will therefore need to collect at least a good 500,000 euros from various sponsors.