Vukovar from May 1 to 3 host of the 8th festival “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ”
From Friday, May 1, to Sunday, May 3, 2026, Vukovar will host the eighth edition of the Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage, tourist events, attractions and destinations “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ”. The event, which in recent years has become one of the recognizable spring events in the city and the wider tourist area, brings a three-day program at several locations, with an emphasis on cultural heritage, music, children’s content, folklore, dance performances, eco-ethno offer and public open-air programs. The organizers announce that all festival content will be free for visitors, which gives the festival additional accessibility and a broader social character.
The central festival locations will be Republic of Croatia Square, Vukovar Korzo, the Workers’ Hall and the area on the meadow opposite Velepromet, and the program is conceived so as to connect tradition and contemporary forms of public entertainment. The ceremonial opening is planned for May 1 on the main stage at Republic of Croatia Square, with the program “Welcome to Vukovar”, while it will be preceded by a parade of majorettes from Eltz Castle toward the central city square. Due to the expected increased interest in the events, visitors planning a multi-day stay will also find timely checking of options for
accommodation in Vukovar important, especially near the main festival locations.
A festival that connects heritage, tourism and public city space
“SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” is conceived as an event that brings together intangible cultural heritage, tourist events, attractions and destinations in one place, but also different forms of stage, music and children’s programs. Such a concept gives the festival a broader identity framework: it is an event that presents heritage not only as exhibition or protocol content, but as a living program in public space, accessible to a wide audience. In that sense, during three days Vukovar turns into a stage on which cultural and artistic societies, singing groups, dance clubs, children’s performers, craftsmen, exhibitors of indigenous products and street performers meet.
According to the announcement by the Vukovar Tourist Board, this year’s edition also brings a special emphasis on children and young people. The festival program includes finalists and participants of music television formats for young performers, among them The Voice Kids Hrvatska, Super talent and Super Star, and the organizers have dedicated this year’s festival to little guardians of heritage and little creatives. In this way, the program does not rely only on presenting tradition in a classical form, but attempts to open space to new generations who, through song, dance, stage performance and workshops, participate in preserving cultural identity.
The festival is held in the period when Vukovar also marks City Day, May 3, so the final day of the event is especially connected with the city’s identity and ceremonial programs. In Sunday’s schedule, the children’s “Flower Korzo”, the program “We are small but we are important”, the folklore program BAŠTINA.HR and the ceremonial program “Greetings from Vukovar” stand out. Such a schedule connects the local city calendar with an event that has a broader cultural and tourist ambition.
Opening with a parade, Vukovar performers and a concert dedicated to Zdenko Runjić
The first festival day, Friday, May 1, begins at Republic of Croatia Square with a parade of majorettes, participants of the 1st Meeting of Majorettes and Pom-Pom Clubs in Vukovar. The parade is announced for 4:15 p.m., on the route from Eltz Castle to Republic of Croatia Square, which already at the beginning of the festival includes the city panorama and a symbolic passage toward the center of events in the program. After that follows the music and dance program “Welcome to Vukovar”, featuring Eltzovi panduri, Vukovarski golubići, Vukovar Music School, Mambo Dance Club and vocalists Mateja Ištuk, Marta Mičić and Ana Ajduković.
The program continues under the title “Vukovar Dances”, in which participants of the 1st Meeting of Majorettes and Pom-Pom Clubs will present themselves. The participation of majorettes from Rijeka, Karlovac, Bjelovar, Glina, Sinj, the island of Krk and Vukovar has been announced. This gives the first festival day a distinctly dance character, and Republic of Croatia Square becomes the central space of public performance, gathering and family program. For visitors coming from other places, it is especially practical to plan their arrival and
accommodation near the festival events in Vukovar in advance, considering that the program continues into the evening hours.
One of the more important musical moments of the first day will be the concert “Believe in Love”, dedicated to Zdenko Runjić, one of the best-known Croatian composers of popular music. The concert will be performed by finalists of the first and second seasons of the show The Voice Kids Hrvatska, and songs connected with Runjić’s authorial opus are expected in the program. The evening part of the program also brings the street performance “Colors of the Circus” by the Vuala theater from Lviv in Ukraine and a concert by the group Trio Gušt, announced for 9:30 p.m. at Republic of Croatia Square.
Korzo, eco-ethno fair and family content
Alongside the main stage, an important part of the festival schedule will take place on Vukovar Korzo. An eco-ethno fair has been announced there for Friday, lasting from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., with an offer of indigenous products, tastings and sales. Such content gives the festival an additional tourist and economic dimension because it opens space for local and regional producers, crafts, family farms and other exhibitors who, through their products, present the gastronomic and traditional identity of their environments.
The program on Korzo also includes interactive performances such as the juggling program CHALMAN, while the Workers’ Hall on the first day brings a guest appearance by the Christmas Village from Velika Gorica. This is content that, in May, brings elements of Christmas atmosphere, scents and scenography into the festival space, which is one of the more unusual program additions of this year’s edition. With this, the organizers seek to expand the festival experience beyond classical concerts and folklore performances and shape it as a multi-layered experience for families, children and visitors of different interests.
Saturday’s program continues the eco-ethno fair on Vukovar Korzo, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the area opposite Velepromet will be reserved for a guest appearance by the Toy Festival from Ivanić-Grad. This part of the program is announced as entertainment and animation content for children, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Alongside children’s programs, creative workshops, street performers and theatrical elements, the festival is profiled as an event that simultaneously aims at cultural promotion and an all-day stay of the audience in the city.
Saturday marked by remembrance and the music program “Voices of Remembrance”
The second day of the festival, Saturday, May 2, will have a strong memorial tone. At Republic of Croatia Square at 8 p.m., the concert of patriotic songs “Voices of Remembrance” has been announced, on the occasion of marking the 35th anniversary of the death of 12 police officers from Borovo Selo. The program will be performed by finalists of the first and second seasons of the show The Voice Kids Hrvatska, which also connects this part of the festival with young performers, but in a different thematic framework than the first day. Instead of an entertaining and dance-oriented beginning, Saturday evening is dedicated to remembrance, reverence and a music program that carries a strong symbolic message.
The inclusion of such a program in the festival schedule shows that the event does not seek to be only a tourist and entertainment event, but also a part of the local social calendar. Vukovar is a city in which memorial culture has a special place, and public events are often intertwined with history, commemorations and collective memory. In that context, “Voices of Remembrance” is not a separate concert block, but part of a broader festival narrative that connects heritage, identity and public space.
At the same time, Saturday’s daytime program keeps its family and fair character, so visitors can combine content on Korzo, programs for children and the evening concert. Such organization allows different rhythms of visiting: from shorter arrivals to individual programs to an all-day stay in the city. For those who plan to follow several festival days, especially the finale on Sunday, it is useful to check
accommodation offers in Vukovar in time because the largest part of the program will be concentrated in the city center.
Sunday brings BAŠTINA.HR, City Day and a concert by Danijela Martinović
The final festival day, Sunday, May 3, is the broadest in terms of program and symbolically especially important because it coincides with Vukovar City Day. The morning part at Republic of Croatia Square begins at 9 a.m. with the “Flower Korzo”, a parade of children from Vukovar kindergartens and a greeting to spring. After that follows the festival program of Vukovar kindergartens under the title “We are small but we are important”, and then the music program “Road to the Stars”, in which well-known domestic and foreign hits will be performed. This program is repeated during the day in several time slots, with the participation of finalists of the first and second seasons of The Voice Kids Hrvatska and guests.
One of the central cultural contents of Sunday’s program will be BAŠTINA.HR, a folklore program in which cultural and artistic societies and singing groups from Croatia and guests from Tavankut, Odžak and Vajska will participate. The program has been announced as a space for presenting intangible cultural heritage, including traditional customs, songs, dances and cultural expressions of communities that preserve heritage in different regions. The organizers especially emphasized that attention will also be directed toward the traditional customs of Croats from Vojvodina and Bosanska Posavina.
According to data from the Ministry of Culture and Media, Croatia has a number of intangible cultural assets inscribed on UNESCO lists, and the publicly available Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia also includes intangible goods. In the festival context, this is important because heritage is not presented only as a historical category, but as a living practice maintained by communities, associations, artists, performers and knowledge bearers. It is precisely such programs that give additional weight to an event whose name directly points to the linking of cultural heritage, tourist promotion and public presentation of destinations.
Sunday’s afternoon and evening program includes the ceremonial program “Greetings from Vukovar” on the occasion of City Day, the dance animation program “Vukovar Dances” and the stage performance of Mihael Jelić and the artistic collective SVEBOR. The finale of the festival brings a concert by Danijela Martinović, announced for 8:30 p.m. at Republic of Croatia Square. Thus, the three-day event closes with a large popular music program, after a day that is largely dedicated to children, folklore, city identity and ceremonial marking.
Free admission and a wide circle of organizers
All festival content has been announced as free, which is important information for visitors, but also for positioning the event in public space. Free access to programs allows the festival to be open to a wide audience, without a financial barrier to entry to concerts, children’s content, folklore performances and fair programs. At a time when the costs of organizing cultural and tourist events are rising, such a model strongly depends on institutional support, partnerships and coordination of local and tourist stakeholders.
According to announcements, the festival takes place in co-organization by the City of Vukovar and the Vukovar Tourist Board, with the Croatian House Materina priča as the holder of the creative concept of the festival program. Financial support is provided by the City of Vukovar, the Croatian National Tourist Board, the Tourist Board of Vukovar-Srijem County and Vukovar-Srijem County. Earlier announcements also highlighted that the event has been recognized as a TOP event of the Croatian National Tourist Board, that it received the European EFFE label for significant cultural festivals and the Simply the Best tourism award.
For Vukovar, the festival has multiple roles. On the one hand, it is a cultural event that brings together performers, associations and programs related to heritage. On the other hand, the festival is a tourist event that encourages the arrival of visitors, occupancy of accommodation capacities, traffic in hospitality and the visibility of the city ahead of the beginning of the more intensive spring-summer period. For this reason, information about the schedule, locations and available
accommodation for festival visitors in Vukovar is a practical part of preparation for all who want to follow several program units.
Program by days
Friday, May 1- Republic of Croatia Square: parade of majorettes from Eltz Castle to Republic of Croatia Square, program “Welcome to Vukovar”, “Vukovar Dances”, concert “Believe in Love” dedicated to Zdenko Runjić, street performance “Colors of the Circus” and concert by the group Trio Gušt.
- Vukovar Korzo: eco-ethno fair with tasting and sale of indigenous products and an interactive juggling program.
- Workers’ Hall: guest appearance by the Christmas Village from Velika Gorica and additional animation content.
Saturday, May 2- Republic of Croatia Square: concert “Voices of Remembrance” on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the death of 12 police officers from Borovo Selo.
- Vukovar Korzo: eco-ethno fair during the day.
- Area opposite Velepromet: guest appearance by the Ivanić-Grad Toy Festival with children’s entertainment and animation content.
Sunday, May 3- Republic of Croatia Square: “Flower Korzo”, kindergarten children’s program “We are small but we are important”, music program “Road to the Stars”, BAŠTINA.HR, ceremonial program “Greetings from Vukovar”, dance program “Vukovar Dances”, stage performance by Mihael Jelić and the artistic collective SVEBOR and concert by Danijela Martinović.
In its eighth edition, the festival “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” continues to build a recognizable model of a public event that simultaneously presents tradition, gathers different generations and uses city spaces as open stages. From parades and children’s programs to concerts, the fair, folklore and programs dedicated to remembrance, the three-day schedule is shaped as a blend of cultural presentation, tourist offer and city celebration. From May 1 to 3, Vukovar will thus once again be a meeting place of heritage, music, family content and public events that, according to the organizers’ announcements, can be attended without paying admission.
Sources:- Official website of the festival “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” – festival program from May 1 to 3, 2026 (link)- Vukovar Tourist Board – announcement of the complete festival program from May 1 to 3, 2026 (link)- Vukovar Tourist Board – press conference and announcement of the 8th festival “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” (link)- Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia – intangible cultural heritage inscribed on UNESCO lists (link)- Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia – public overview of cultural goods, including intangible cultural heritage (link)
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