The anniversary 10th Dubrovnik Winter Festival begins on Saturday, 2 December with the lighting of the first Advent candle on Stradun and the decorative holiday lights turning on. A special emphasis will be placed on programmes which are a part of the Children's Winter Festival.
Santa Claus arrives from Lapland to the Rector’s Palace on the very first day of the Festival together with his cheerful helpers! People of all ages will enjoy themselves at the ice rink in the Lapad Bay and, besides the Baš Baština programme in Lazareti, many special programmes will be held from day to day at many attractive locations throughout the city.
Cultural institutions of the City of Dubrovnik will provide entertainment and education for the youth through a series of workshops and creative playrooms, for example, the Christmas Science Workshop which will be held in the Dubrovnik Natural History Museum, the Nativity in the MoMA cycle of workshops held in the Dubrovnik Museum of Modern Art, or the magical Nutcracker produced by the Marin Držić Theatre and performed on their main stage. A day before the official opening of the festival, children will start decorating shop windows for the holiday season, organized by the House of Marin Držić, while the following days bring their Golden Age of Dubrovnik guided tours. There will also be a charity sales exhibition of paintings done by the participants of the art workshop Marin Držić - A Painted Story in cooperation with the Lions club Dubrovnik – Saint Blaise.
Dubrovnik Libraries bring a series of events, among which art workshops for children stand out, to the Public Library Grad in the Old Town and the Lapad branch, as well as get-togethers where one can learn about Dubrovnik’s traditional carol which is on the List of Protected Cultural Properties of the Republic of Croatia. The Dubrovnik Museums have prepared a series of relevant educational programmes, while the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra continue precious traditions by holding a Christmas concert on 22 December and a New Year's concert on 1 January, alongside classical music concerts in the Rector’s Palace and in the Bunić-Kaboga Summer Villa.
Festival goers should not miss the magical North Pole Station in Luža, a place where imagination-filled afternoons will bring both joy and new knowledge with workshops and animated movie screenings. The Colourful Winter in Uvala, besides its popular holiday train rides, brings a series of themed events for children and teens during Saturday winter mornings and afternoons.
This year, an ice rink will be set up not only in Uvala (Lapad Bay) but also in the largest suburb of Dubrovnik, in Mokošica, where the Holy Savior Parish and the Mala kuća Kindergarten will also be hosting a series of workshops, plays, concerts and other events that will spread holiday spirit and warm the hearts of all visitors.
Dubrovnik Children's Choir led by Paola Dražić Zekić and Sanja Dražić will perform on Saturday on the main festival stage on Stradun for the official opening of the anniversary DWF, while the young singers will also learn verses and notes of Dubrovnik’s carol in the Bunić-Kaboga Summer Villa at the workshop "Big Heritage in Little Hearts". Many wonderful performances will be staged along numerous locations around the city, among them the Emperor's New Clothes performed by the Kolarin troupe, The Girl with the Red Hood in Lazareti, Beauty and the Beast by the Stage Konavle studio, a dance production by the Step n' Jazz studio, The Devil with the Golden Hair, and The Conceited Miss Mouse performed by Aster Dubrovnik and various others.
In the TUP former factory in Gruž a special programme for teenagers is being prepared under the name Tip top TUP - Winter Holidays, while university students will enjoy Advent on Vojnović St. with its concert and entertainment programme. The festive pop-up cabrio bus will tour the city with musicians, blasting the best holiday music and, of course, Dubrovnik’s iconic carol spreading cheer on every corner, while Croatia’s sweetheart Mia Dimšić will sing at the beloved charity Cake Party on Stradun. The children's winter festival continues through to the end of December with Motorcycle Santas riding on Stradun, until the New Year's Eve Party for kids and the performance of Ante Gelo band, as well as events set in the first week of January!
Another magical festival feature is specially designed and decorated Photo Points where one can stop at any moment and capture memories of Dubrovnik and its special winter atmosphere. Welcoming in the most beautiful time of the year, the city will shine in its winter finery, decorated with over one thousand two hundred lights and decorations and a thousand meters of decorative laurel that will adorn the city facades. More than 50 trees will be illuminated, and more than thirty large and small Christmas trees will bring the warmth of the holidays to every neighbourhood.
The city administration provided all citizens and visitors with free transportation by Libertas buses on city routes in the afternoon and at night to enable as many people as possible to attend the Dubrovnik Winter Festival. Also, the price of the DU Pass, a ticket to Dubrovnik's most important attractions, has been reduced from 35 to only 15 euros, and the ticket prices to the city walls as well.
More information about all events will be available on the website and social media of the Dubrovnik Winter Festival, the official Android and IOS application and the City of Dubrovnik Events Calendar.
*****
The Dubrovnik Winter Festival is a project by the City of Dubrovnik, public institutions in culture, the City of Dubrovnik Tourist Board, and public companies, which organise a variety of cultural and entertainment programmes during the Advent season and ahead of the new year on dozens of locations in the historic city centre as well as in and around other parts of the city, offering a wide range of events for citizens and visitors of all ages. Students from the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Dubrovnik are also participating in this year's festival. The project is realized with the support of Coca-Cola.
The anniversary 10th Dubrovnik Winter Festival is also supported by the Adriatic Luxury Hotels, Ruđer Bošković Airport – Dubrovnik, OTP Bank, Lero Hotel, RAO and many others, to whom we would like to thank.
