The Break Festival began in 1997 with the aim of bringing together young (up to 35 years old) emerging artists from all disciplines to present their work to Ljubljana audiences. During its early years, the festival brought in numerous young artists from the west, as well as from the former Yugoslavia and even Novosibirsk and Mongolia. Since 2000 the age limit has been abandoned and the festival is now orientated towards urban, technologically-supported arts and intermedia artistic practices that are perceived as current avant garde. The Festival now also presents special guests (world-acclaimed artists) with the aim of establishing an innovative dialogue with young emerging artists. One very important component is a symposium on the chosen festival theme with lectures by artists and scientists invited from different fields. This theme was ‘Invisible Threat’ in 2003 and the 'New Species' in 2005.
The purpose of the festival is to explore new artistic expressions and contemporary topics and to emphasise emerging poetics whose artistic discourse has not yet been deep-rooted within firmly established standards, criteria and cultural values. Categories of the festival include visual arts (comics, graphic prints, digital prints, photographs, interactive works and visual communication: ‘subvertising’ and computer-assisted art from web art to robotics); performing arts; intermedia arts; moving pictures (films of all categories: documentaries, fiction, video art, animated films, experimental films and short films); music and sound (concerts, sound installations and intermedia performances in which sound is given priority); architecture; and applied arts. Forms of presentation include 2-D exhibitions, installations and ambient performances, actions, concerts and sound installations, fashion shows, lectures, round tables and projections.
In 2005 the organisers received 329 project applications, out of which 38 were selected. The festival took place in four locations in the city of Ljubljana. The central location of the festival was the halls of a factory on Poljanska street 95 where 14 installations were exhibited, 12 different performances were performed and a symposium with 19 lectures, 4 of which include a workshop, were held during the first week of the festival. At Castle Kodeljevo the festival presented an exhibition of 16 installations. Due to its specific character, one of the art works was realised at the Botanical Gardens in Ljubljana, and another at the Kapelica Gallery, which was also its producer. In all a total of 63 projects was realised by 68 artists and some collaborators from the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Japan, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States of America.
The 9th Break Festival took place in different locations in the city centre in November 2007. A wide range of artists from all over the globe dealt with the issue of reality perception through exhibitions, performances, indoor and outdoor installations, symposia, lectures, video and film projections and workshops addressing the theme of the Potemkin village and its worldwide multi-form phenomena (fake, utopia, dystopia, facade, dissimulation, simulacra, imitation, fiction, propaganda, virtuality, diversion, fraud, mask, cosmetics, hoax...).
Co-operating organisations include SCCA-Ljubljana Centre for Contemporary Arts, the City Museum of Ljubljana, Ljubljana Dance Theatre (PTL), KUD Mreža Arts and Culture Association, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Radio Študent (RŠ), Maska Magazine, Urban Festival Zagreb, Vojvodjanka Novi Sad, Bitef Festival Beograd, Radio FRO Linz, Radio La Benevolencia Amsterdam, Imaginary Museum Projects Amsterdam, La General Collective Paris, Vector Foundation Bucharest, Cricoteca Krakov, Guelman Gallery Moscow and Empire Sydney.
The printed version of the calendar of Festivals in Slovenia in 2012 contains 141 festivals. Later on, in 2019, the festival number rose to 199. Check out the current annual festivalscape!
Since 2012, the annual festivalscapes are provided as an infographic, conceived by the Culture.si team at the Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratory.
The interactive calendars include the festivals from the Culture.si database arranged by weeks and by field. You can see specific types of festivals, e.g., music festivals only, by clicking on the corresponding artistic field.
Take a look at the Festivals in Slovenia infographic.
Web resources, Cultural policy, Culture.si infographics, Cultural policy web resources
This Month's Festivals
Dedicated to exploring and presenting various facets of mountain culture, the Mountain Film Festival was established in 2007. Since then, it has been running a strong international program that encompasses various films about mountain sports (mountaineering, mountain running, B.A.S.E jumping, etc.), different types of climbing (from bouldering to ice climbing), mountain wildlife, and the lives of indigenous mountain dwellers, among other topics. Since its inception, the festival has been led by its founder, the legendary mountaineer Silvo Karo.
Over the years, the festival has grown to the point where it is now comparable to the biggest and most important mountain film festivals worldwide. In 2010, the Mountain Film Festival became a member of the International Alliance for Mountain Film.
Poster for the 18th Mountain Film Festival, 2024
NOT ROBOT, WRITING DONE, INFOBOX DONE, PROOFREAD DONE, FERTIK, NOVERIFY, NODEPO, PHOTO, FEATURED, Article, HAS LOGO, Festivals, Articles maintained by Ziga Brdnik, Film, Updated 2017, Film festivals, Pages using duplicate arguments in template calls, Festivals in March, Sport
Kurent or Korant, the most known and popular traditional carnival character in Slovenia, Kurentovanje, Ptuj 2023. Author: Stanko Vozel
The masked rite of spring known as Kurentovanje has been held since 1960, every February for 10 days leading up to Shrove Tuesday. It is the most popular Mardi Gras celebration in Slovenia, with most of the festivities centered in and Ptuj, Slovenia's oldest town, which has hosted Kurentovanje for around six decades.
The Carnival was admitted into the European Federation of Carnival Cities in 1991. In 2017, the Door-to-door rounds of the Kurent were inscribed on the UNESCO representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Groups from Germany, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Macedonia, Romania, and Bulgaria usually participate in the event, assisting local people in building up the Land of the Kurent. The rite itself is accompanied by a full agenda of concerts, activities, and other attractions, ensuring that the event is attended by more than 100,000 visitors every year.
Faries at the opening procession, Ptuj 2023. Author: Stanko Vozel
Carnival events for children, Kurentovanje in Ptuj, 2023. Author: Stanko Vozel
Meet traditional carnival characters: the Devil with Kurents, Ptuj 2023. Author: Stanko Vozel
NOT ROBOT, INFOBOX DONE, NEEDSUPDATE, NOVERIFY, NODEPO, Article, NIFERTIK, Maribor, European Capital of Culture 2012, WRITING, TOPROOFREAD, HAS LOGO, Festivals, NO PHOTO, Articles maintained by Simon Žlahtič, Intangible heritage, Festivals in February, Intangible heritage festivals
The percussion ensemble SToP Slovene Percussion Project at 15th BUMfest, 2023.
Established in 2007, the BUMfest International Percussion Festival stands as the sole Slovenian percussion music festival. Held in Žalec, the festival boasts a consistently successful and regularly sold-out musical program that showcases a diverse range of percussion and drumming projects, often incorporating elements of theatre, dance, humor, and sound experimentation. In addition to the evening concerts, the festival includes music workshops, matinee performances for schoolchildren, exhibitions, and more.
NOT ROBOT, WRITING DONE, INFOBOX DONE, PROOFREAD DONE, NOVERIFY, NODEPO, Article, NIFERTIK, Articles maintained by Anže Zorman, Music, HAS LOGO, Festivals, NO PHOTO, Music festivals, Pages using duplicate arguments in template calls, Festivals in January
Established in 2015, MENT Ljubljana is an international music showcase festival taking place at various Ljubljana venues beginning of February. It is comprised of a series of music acts (fresh artists joined by established head-liners), a conference programme dealing with the intricacies of music businesses, and additional events such as exhibitions or workshops on new art and media technologies. Moreover, MENT is a year-long project intended to help Slovene musicians and music professionals with promotion and networking. To this end, MENT enlists and accompanies them to other showcase festivals.
NOT ROBOT, WRITING DONE, PROOFREAD DONE, NOVERIFY, NODEPO, PHOTO, Article, NIFERTIK, Articles maintained by Anže Zorman, Music, INFOBOX, HAS LOGO, Festivals, Music festivals, Funding, professional and support services, Support services, Workshop organisers
Fabula Festival ‒ Literature of the World is the biggest and most visited literary festival in Slovenia and the wider region. Produced by the Beletrina Publishing Institute in collaboration with Cankarjev dom, Cultural and Congress Centre the festival brings together world-class authors through well-considered curatorship. Each year, the festival aims to select five distinguished writers, while the Fabula Hub devotes attention to promising, up-and-coming authors. In addition to hosting renowned writers and establishing live contact between international literature and Slovenian audiences, translated works of the chosen five are also published as part of the festival. The festival also features a theoretical focus addressing a relevant social issue every year - raising topical socio-critical issues it addresses contemporary challenges.
NOT ROBOT, WRITING DONE, NEEDSUPDATE, NOVERIFY, NODEPO, Article, NIFERTIK, INFOBOX, TOPROOFREAD, HAS LOGO, Festivals, NO PHOTO, Articles maintained by Simon Smole, Literature, Festivals in March, Literature festivals, World Book Capital Ljubljana 2010
Opening event of Fabula Festival 2023 hosted the Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabužko, author of the novel Field Research of Ukrainian Sex, that was interpreted by drama actor Mario Dragojević. The conversation with the author was led by Ksenija Horvat.
Upcoming Festivals
Since 1999, Kinoatelje organizes the annual cross-border film festival Tribute to a Vision taking place in the inter-regional space between Slovenia and Italy, thus connecting audiences and film institutions in 7 different cities.
Since 1999, Kinoatelje, Gorica/Gorizia, in coproduction with the Kinoatelje Institute, Nova Gorica, has organised the annual cross-border film festival, taking place in the inter-regional space between Slovenia and Italy, thus connecting audiences and film institutions in 7 different cities (Gorizia, Nova Gorica, Trieste, Izola, San Pietro al Natisone, Udine and Ljubljana). The physical distances might not be great, but the colourful cultural variety imparts a unique enrichment in a shared cross-border space.
NOT ROBOT, WRITING DONE, INFOBOX DONE, PROOFREAD DONE, FERTIK, NOVERIFY, NODEPO, PHOTO, FEATURED, Article, Festivals, Film, Festivals in October, Articles maintained by Editor, Film festivals
See also
