Zagreb Christmas Markets 2020: No traditional format of Advent this December

Caffe de Matoš (Photo: Julien Duval/Zagreb Tourist Board)

ZAGREB, Nov 4 (Hina) – During the Advent season, Zagreb will be decorated and illuminated for Christmas and the New Year, however, there will be no traditional format of the Advent in Zagreb event due to the epidemiological circumstances.

Mayor Milan Bandic said on Wednesday that some cultural events would be scheduled, Advent and Christmas decorations would be set up and several stands would also be installed for local service businesses in the city centre.

However, there would not be the traditional format of the Advent in Zagreb, he told local radio.

(Photo credit: Julien Duval/Zagreb TZ)

Zagreb was voted ‘Best Christmas Market in Europe’ for three years straight and has helped contribute to a boost in tourist arrivals over the holiday period in the Croatian capital.

(Photo: S Kastelan/Zagreb Tourist Board)

In the year to the end of September, nearly 283,000 tourists visited Zagreb, generating 624,300 overnight stays, which is 26 percent and 31 percent of last year’s figures respectively. Most of the tourists were from Croatia, followed by those from Germany, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Poland. Most of the overnight stays were generated by tourists from Croatia, Germany, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the United States. 

The epidemic of coronavirus also forced the city authorities to cancel the Interliber book fair. The fair will be organised online, and the mayor promised financial support to the publishers and bookshops.