PHOTOS: Dubrovnik Summer Festival opens

by croatiaweek
July 11, 2023
in Entertainment

(Photo: Dubrovnik Summer Festival)

The raising of the Libertas flag to the Hymn to Liberty verses has marked the grand opening of the 74^th Dubrovnik Summer Festival, held traditionally from 10 July to 25 August across Dubrovnik’s various site-specific stages and locations.

In the upcoming 47 days, the Festival offer its large local and foreign audience almost 70 theatre, music, dance, folklore, and other events, and the first one is the day after the opening, on 11 July at 9 pm in the Sponza Palace atrium – the first exhibition at the 74^th Festival, a cycle entitled Lightness of Youth, by the Croatian painter and graphic artist Fadil Vejzović.

(Photo: Dubrovnik Summer Festival)

This summer, the grand opening ceremony, set in front of St Blaise’s Church as is tradition, was directed by the Festival’s Assistant Artistic Director for Theatre Saša Božić based on a script he co-wrote with theatre artist Nataša Dangubić.

The Dubrovnik Summer Festival opening ceremony has grown from the collective memory of poklade, the traditional Shrovetide carnival season and a time of the year when travelling actors, troubadours and other artists could enter the City and entertain the citizenry with their plays and performances until Ash Wednesday.

(Photo: Dubrovnik Summer Festival)

The Rector of the Republic of Ragusa gave the actors keys to the City symbolically allowing them to perform in the City. This programme returned to its core tenets: the urban ritual and the traditional foundation of the opening ceremony which included artists from the Festival Drama Ensemble, musicians, students, and Linđo Folklore Ensemble. The opening dealt with the basic premises of urban Dubrovnik – the City’s recent history, with commentary by theatre artist Nataša Dangubić representing the citizens of Dubrovnik. – Božić pointed out.

(Photo: Dubrovnik Summer Festival)

Performing alongside the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of maestro Tomislav Fačini, were the Libertas Mixed Choir, Dubrovnik Chamber Choir, Pro musica Mostar Academic Choir, Blasius Choir, as well as Slavenko Prizmić, Ivan Kušelj, Antun Puljizević and Matija Slomović fanfares, Vicko Dragojević and Marko Šilje on mandolins, and the youngest singers Marijeta Bošković and b. Part of the grand opening ceremony were also the Festival Drama Ensemble, acting students from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb and Split, Lero Student Theatre, Kolarin Theatre Troupe, Linđo Folklore Ensemble, and Lazareti Dance Studio.