FLOWERS AND FESTIVALS IN SLOVENIA – LJUBLJANA AND MARIBOR FESTIVAL-STYLE: THE INTERNATIONAL DRUGA GODBA FESTIVAL FOR STARTERS

The summer festival season in Ljubljana and Slovenia will start on 18 May with the 25th Druga Godba, an international festival of ethno and world music, which will take place at various venues around the capital of Slovenia until the end of the month.

Defying conventional classification, the event ranks among the leading music festivals in Europe. This year’s jubilee will open with Abd al-Malik, French Musician of the Year 2008 and one of the 15 ambassadors of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008. Druga Godba, this year on until 29 May, will also feature Dutch band The Ex, Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria and other select musicians.

The end of June in Ljubljana will be marked by the 50th Ljubljana Jazz Festival. Each year this event draws big names in world jazz music. The city will be beating to the pulse of jazz until 4 July.
The Ljubljana Summer Festival events start two days later, on 6 July. This festival, taking place at numerous venues around the capital, will be alive with action as late as the beginning of September. It is going to bring together a total of 70+ prime-quality events, featuring guests like the Bolshoi Theatre, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra and Choir, and many more.

With the Lent Festival starting at the end of June, Maribor is also in for a lively and exciting summer. Encompassing 400+ events and drawing a crowd of half a million, the Lent Festival ranks as one of Europe’s biggest summer festivals. Between 26 June and 11 July, some 30 festival venues will be hosting classical, jazz, popular and ethno music concerts, singer & songwriter and chanson evenings, theatre and dance performances, concerts, plays and puppet shows, children’s creative workshops, sporting events, etc. In 2009, like in previous years, the international Folkart Festival, the Jazzlent Festival and the Street Theatre Festival will also be held alongside the Lent Festival.

To learn more about the Ljubljana festivals and other events, visit the Events section at http://www.visitljubljana.si/en/
To learn more about the Maribor events, visit the Events section at www.maribor-pohorje.si

FEEL SLOVENIA BLOSSOM: HORTICULTURE PARKS
Slovenia is a remarkably rich country in botanical terms. A national park, three regional parks and some 40 landscape parks are home to many distinctive natural attractions of Slovenia, and botanical gardens and numerous varied municipal and other parks bear testimony to the country’s rich horticultural tradition. Many of them bloom most vigorously in spring, when a large number of horticultural events take place.

One of the most well-known botanical parks is the Volčji Potok Arboretum, located not far from the capital, Ljubljana, which has more than 4,500 domestic and international tree, bush and other plant species spreading across some 85 ha of land. Daffodil Days will be held at the park from 21 March to 27 April, followed by the traditional Tulip Show, drawing an incredibly large number of visitors and open until 3 May. The park is holding Rhododendron Days until the end of May, and June will be marked by roses. On top of that, the park also houses an exhibition of tropical butterflies, which will be on display from 16 May until the end of August 2009.

At the end of April and the beginning of May, the Mozirski Gaj flower park, located in the Upper Savinja Valley, is a great place for flower fans. The park’s most prominent event is the traditional Flower and Tulip Exhibition, which opens at the end of April.

The Festival of Roses, held in Nova Gorica, a town on the eastern edge of the country, is increasingly gaining recognition among flower-related events. Above the town there is the famous Kostanjevica monastery, which houses the most comprehensive collection of original Bourbon roses in Europe. The festival offers not only exhibitions, rose growing competitions and flowers to buy, but also unique gastronomic experiences – with rose-tinged scents and flavours. This year’s festival will be held on 9 and 10 May.

Further information: www.arboretum-vp.si, www.mozirskigaj.com, www.novagorica-turizem.com
Further information on May events in Slovenia: www.slovenia.info

March 10, 2009   Posted in: Slovenia