20th August 2006 SUNDAY - OPENING CEREMONY
 Participants of the 9th International folk festival arrived in Karlovac a day before the opening of the Festival. They were accommodated in pupils’ dormitory in Karlovac and Duga Resa. After one night rest from exhausting trip to Karlovac, the groups started preparing the programme for the opening ceremony. In the evening hours, a march pass was organized through the streets of Karlovac. The groups arrived to the central stage of the opening ceremony, to the “Šanac”. Mr. Željko Šančić, president of the Organisation Board of the Festival, welcomed all guests in their native languages, wished them a pleasant staying and offi cially opened the 9th IFF. Folk ensembles performed their national dances to the numerous audience who were thrilled with their dances and music. The audience often interrupted the programme to greet the groups with big applauze. Also, the citizens of Karlovac enjoyed in perfomances of executive origanisator of the IFF folk ensemble “Matija Gubec” and their guest, folk ensemble “Ivan Mažuranić”. All TV and newspapers media covered the opening ceremony. Mr. Luis Leandro da Silva, fi rst secretary of the Ambassy of Portugal in Zagreb attended the opening ceremony and was thrilled with the group performances and with the organisation of the Festival.
21th August 2006 MONDAY-SELCE and CRIKVENICA
In the early morning hours, groups went on a trip to the Primorsko-goranska County. Their destination was the Karlovac Youth Rest Centre at Selce. Mr. Marijan Karlić, manager of the Youth Rest centre, welcomed the participants and wished them a pleasant day in Selce and Crikvenica. Participants enjoyed swimming in the Adriatic sea and in seightseeing of Selce. In the evening hours, they went to Crikvenica. After a short march pass, the groups arrived at the main square where Mrs. Gordana Jelenović, president of the Crikvenica Tourist Offi ce welcomed the performers. Citizans and tourists of Crikvenica Riviere had an opportunity to enjoy in group perfomaces and to dance with their members.
22nd August 2006, TUESDAY - DAY OFF
Tuesday was predicted to be a day off for the groups. Some of the participants went to the national park “Plitvice”, where they were estonished with the beauty of nature which is unique in these parts of Europe. Other participants visited Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia. They were amazed with beautiful parks and building’s architecture, streets, squares and especially the hospitality of Croats. Allthough the most of the participants enjoyed in their day off, musicians of the folk ensembles “Dancis” and “Dailrade”, with the organisators of the Festival, were guests in TV show “Dobro jutro Hrvatska” at the Croatian national television HRT. Spectators had the opportunity to enjoy in national Latvian folk songs and music.
23rd August 2006, WEDNESDAY-DUGA RESA
Town Duga Resa, traditionally, welcomed the participants of the 9th IFF and has been an excellent host. Participants enjoyed swimming in the river Mrežnica at Brig, and had a lot of fun and laughter in the games that had been prepared by their group coordinators and members of the organisation of the Festival. After a beautiful and relaxing day spent on Mrežnica, groups held a concert in the cinema hall in the center of Duga Resa. Mr. Željko Štajcer, director of the Festival, welcomed the citizens of Duga Resa and gave thanks to Mr. Ivan Baršić, City Major, and Mrs. Ana Piškurić, Turist Offi ce Manager, for they great support and effort. Performances of the groups delighted the audience who often rewarded them with big applause. The folk group from Poland won the sympathy of the audience by singing a famous croatian song “Otvor’ ženo kapiju” composed by Miroslav Škoro.
24th August 2006, THURSDAY-DRAGANIĆ
Participants of the 9th IFF visited and performed in Draganić. In the evening hours, they held a concert in the Cultural Centre hall. Mr. Stjepan Golub, Municipal Chief, welcomed the guests and gathered inhabitants of Draganić, who enjoyed the perfomances of the groups from Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, Portugal and Latvia. At the end of the concert, Mr. Vladimir Turkalj, president of the Draganić Tourist Offi ce, thanked to the participants for their great show and handed them out the local souvenirs as a reminder of municipality Draganić and the hospitality of people in Croatia.
25th August 2006, FRIDAY-KARLOVAC
In the morning hours, on behalf of the Town Karlovac and Karlovac County, County Prefect Mr. Ivica Horvat and City Major Mr. Miro Škrgatić welcomed the group representatives of the Festival. They thanked them for coming to Kalovac, congratulated them for their spectacular perfomances and wished them to bring to their homes many happy memories of Karlovac and Karlovac County. City Major emphasised the value of this Festival to Karlovac and the whole region and announced that they will continue to contribute to the organisation of this important cultural event. Director of the Festival Mr. Željko Štajcer thanked them for their fi nancial support without which it would not be possible to organise such a big cultural manifestation. Town and County representatives exchanged the local souvenirs with each group representative, who were extremely satisfi ed with the organisation of the Festival, hospitality of the people in Karlovac and Karovac County and gave thanks to Mrs. Kristina Medarić, secretary of IFF, who arranged their arrival to Karlovac. After the reception at City Major and County Prefect Offi ce, the group representatives and the organisation of the Festival socialized with press at restaurant “Lovački rog”. After lunch and press conference, the groups prepared for the Grand Beer March Pass. After the opening of the 20th Beer Festival, participants performed in front of the numerous audience at the central stage of the Beer Festival. By counting the number and satisfaction of the audience, it is justify to say that the International folk festival had become the leading cultural event in Karlovac and Karlovac County.
26th August 2006, SATURDAY-KARLOVAC, closing ceremony
In the morning hours, participants performed in front of the “Gavranović centar” who is a sponsor of the Festival. They thrilled gathered visitors who had the opportunity to learn and try out the national dances of Portugal, Moldova and Poland. After this animation program, participants spent their last day seightseeing and photographing of the town and people. Evening was reserved for the last concert and closing ceremony. With spectacular perfomances at the central stage of the Beer festival, groups estonished numerous audience with high quality, diversity and richness of their national folk dances. Mr. Željko Štajcer, director of the Festival, thanked all patrons, sponsors, donors and all people of good will who helped organising such a big event. Also, he thanked the audience for coming and supporting the perfomers with great applause. He closed this year’s 9th IFF and announced the grand 10th IFF next year. President of the Organisation board of the Festival, Mr. Željko Šančić, congratulated the groups for their great performances in their native languages and wished them a happy return to their homes with nice memories of this Festival, Karlovac and Croatia. By exchanging the gifts, the 9th IFF was offi cially closed and the folk ensembles from Latvia, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Turkey greeted the audience for the last time. After the closing ceremony, all participants of the Festival went to the party which was organised by their hosts, the folk ensemble “Matija Gubec”. The group from Moldova was surprised with the big cake for their national independence day and for the 15th anniversary of their ensemble. There was a lot of fun and laughter, dance and music until the early morning hours. With the tears in the eyes and beautiful memories in their hearts, participants returned to their homes. Leaving new friendships and pleasant memories of this year’s 9th IFF behind, the members of the Organisation Board and folk ensemble “Matija Gubec” start organising 10th IFF next year.
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