Damir Kedžo in Vodnjan: a free concert in Kažun Park brings a musical evening among the symbols of Istrian heritage
Vodnjan-Dignano, a town in the southern part of Istria, will host Damir Kedžo, one of the more recognizable names on the Croatian pop scene, on June 25, 2026. According to the official calendar of the Vodnjan-Dignano Tourist Board and the Istrian tourist portal, the concert has been announced in Kažun Park, starting at 21:00, while the local events calendar lists it in the time slot from 21:00 to 22:30. The concert announcement emphasizes that admission is free, which makes the event accessible to a wide audience, from lovers of popular music to visitors who want to connect their summer stay in Istria with an outdoor cultural program.
The concert is taking place in a space that is not a typical concert backdrop, but a theme park dedicated to kažuni, traditional stone shelters strongly connected with the agricultural landscape of the Vodnjan area. It is precisely this combination of a contemporary musical performance and a place that preserves traces of dry-stone heritage that gives the event a special character. For audiences planning to arrive from outside Vodnjan, it is useful to check transport options, the starting time and accommodation near Kažun Park in advance, especially because the event is taking place in the evening during the height of the summer season.
Concert announced for Thursday evening
According to the official events calendar of the Vodnjan-Dignano Tourist Board, Damir Kedžo’s performance is part of the June events program in the Vodnjan area. The same calendar also lists other cultural and entertainment activities in the days around the concert, confirming that the event fits into the broader summer rhythm of the town and surrounding places. The Istrian tourist portal, in a separate event listing, states Kažun Park / Vodnjan-Dignano as the location, June 25, 2026 as the date and 21:00 as the starting time. The contact for additional information in the official announcement is listed as the Vodnjan Tourist Board.
For visitors, the most important practical information is that the concert is planned as an outdoor evening event. Such a format usually calls for arriving somewhat earlier, especially when it comes to a free program and a space that can attract an audience of different generations. Since official tourist calendars confirm the date, schedule and location, and the concert announcement states free admission, the event is expected to attract not only Damir Kedžo’s regular followers but also visitors looking for cultural content in Vodnjan in an authentic Istrian setting.
In the original event announcement, the concert was described as an evening filled with music, emotions and well-known songs from Kedžo’s repertoire. Such a description matches the profile of an artist who built his career on vocally demanding pop songs, festival performances and strong communication with the audience. The evening’s program has not been officially published in the form of a detailed set list, so it is currently not confirmed which songs will be performed. Still, given his concert repertoire so far and the announcement, the audience can expect a selection of well-known singles and songs through which Kedžo gained broad recognition.
Damir Kedžo between festival successes and concert audiences
In its official biography, Croatia Records states that Damir Kedžo is a pop singer born in Omišalj on the island of Krk and that he began his music career in the television talent show Story Supernova. The same source points out that over the years his songs have been among the more listened-to in Croatia, and several singles have been presented as award-winning hits. Among the songs often associated with his concerts are “Srce mi umire za njom”, “Vidi se izdaleka”, “Poljubi me sad”, “Divlji vjetre” and “Nedodirljiva”. The original announcement of the Vodnjan concert also particularly highlights the song “365”, one of the compositions by which part of the audience remembers him from an earlier phase of his career.
According to Croatia Records, Kedžo won the Zagreb Festival with the song “Srce mi umire za njom”, while “Divlji vjetre” is the song with which he won Dora 2020. The official Eurovision website also lists “Divlji vjetre” as Croatia’s song for the 2020 competition in Rotterdam, which was ultimately canceled that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The same Eurovision biographical profile also highlights his international performances, including the Grand Prix of the Slavyanski Bazaar festival in Vitebsk and victory at the New Wave festival in Sochi.
Kedžo’s career is not tied only to the pop concert format. According to Croatia Records and the official Eurovision biography, he has also tried his hand at acting, and for his role in the musical “Crna kuća” he won the Croatian Theatre Award. This combination of popular music, festival experience and theatrical discipline is often recognizable in his style of performance, in which vocal delivery and stage presence are equally important. The concert in Kažun Park is therefore expected to offer a performance focused on direct contact with the audience, which is especially important in open spaces where the atmosphere is built immediately and without formal distance.
Kažun Park as an open-air stage
The concert location is an important part of the story because Kažun Park is not only a gathering space, but also a place for interpreting local building tradition. The Town of Vodnjan states on its official website that the main task of Kažun Park is to introduce the public to the technique and method of building kažuni. According to the same source, the park is located at the entrance to the Vodnjan area, which is said to have the greatest concentration of kažuni in the Mediterranean. The park shows the construction of one kažun in four basic phases, from the foundation and masonry to the roof and completed structure.
Such a setting gives the concert an additional layer of meaning. Instead of a classic town stage or enclosed hall, the audience gathers among stone forms that arose from the practical needs of former rural life. Kažuni served shepherds and farmers as shelter from storms, heat and work in the fields, and today they are increasingly viewed as a recognizable sign of the identity of the Vodnjan area. In its description of local heritage, the Vodnjan Tourist Board states that these traditional dry-stone shelters have lost their original function, but have remained important for local identity and the cultural landscape.
For visitors coming because of the concert, Kažun Park can also be an introduction to a broader discovery of Vodnjan and its surroundings. The Vodnjan Tourist Board describes the area as a space of olive groves, dry-stone walls, kažuni and trails that can be explored on foot or by bicycle. This is precisely why an event such as Damir Kedžo’s concert goes beyond a classic musical performance: it brings the audience into a space that simultaneously functions as a memory of the landscape, an educational point and a summer stage. For those planning a longer stay, accommodation offers in Vodnjan and the surrounding area can be practical if they want to connect the concert with a tour of the kažuni, the old town center or nearby coastal places.
Dry-stone heritage of international significance
The significance of Kažun Park can also be understood in a broader international context. In 2018, UNESCO inscribed the art of dry-stone walling, knowledge and techniques on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity for several European countries, including Croatia. According to UNESCO’s description, dry-stone walling refers to the knowledge of making stone constructions by stacking stones without binding material, except sometimes dry earth. This practice appears in different forms in rural landscapes, on terraces, paths, shelters and property boundaries.
Vodnjan is connected with this heritage in a very visible way. The Vodnjan Tourist Board states that the project “Moj kažun - La mia casita” was launched in May 2007 to preserve archaic examples of traditional architecture. According to the same source, more than 200 kažuni were restored during that period, while dry-stone walls are explained as building elements that served agriculture, protection against wandering livestock, division of territory and marking property. The Town of Vodnjan states that Kažun Park was created as the culmination of efforts to present this heritage to the public in an understandable and accessible way.
That is precisely why the concert in Kažun Park is not just another summer musical evening. It takes place in a location that shows how cultural heritage can gain a new function without losing its own meaning. When traditional stone forms become the backdrop for a contemporary concert, the audience is given the opportunity to participate at the same time in an entertainment program and in an encounter with local history. Such a combination is especially relevant for destinations that want to develop more sustainable and content-rich tourism, in which events are not separated from the space in which they take place.
Vodnjan summer and the role of cultural programs
Damir Kedžo’s concert has been announced as part of summer events in the area of the Town of Vodnjan, and the official calendar of the Vodnjan Tourist Board records a series of concerts, exhibitions, guided tours and events in June and July. Such programs play an important role in the seasonal life of smaller towns because they distribute visitors more evenly, enliven public spaces and offer content that is not tied exclusively to the coast. Vodnjan is thus positioning itself as a place where a summer stay can be connected with music, history, dry-stone heritage, olive growing and an old urban atmosphere.
For the local community, such events also have a social dimension. A free concert enables the gathering of residents, seasonal workers, day visitors and tourists without the obstacle of a ticket. At the same time, a well-known name such as Damir Kedžo increases the visibility of the program and can attract an audience that might not have visited Kažun Park solely as a heritage location. When such a visit happens because of music, there is a greater possibility that visitors will later discover other content connected with Vodnjan, from walking and cycling trails to gastronomy and local cultural points.
For organizers, the challenge is to harmonize the popularity of a free concert with the character of the space. Kažun Park has a strong identity and recognizable landscape value, so for events of this kind it is important to preserve a balance between attendance, safety and respect for the space. Official calendars currently confirm the basic information about the concert, while visitors should follow possible additional notices about access, parking and organizational notes before arriving. This is especially important for outdoor events, where weather conditions and logistics can influence the final performance of the program.
What the audience can expect
The audience in Vodnjan can expect a concert format based on recognizable songs, a strong vocal and direct communication with spectators. The announcement highlights songs from different phases of Kedžo’s career, from the earlier popular “365” to festival-recognized songs such as “Srce mi umire za njom” and “Divlji vjetre”. Since the official set list has not been published, the precise order and choice of songs cannot be confirmed. Still, the currently available public data on Kedžo’s career and the event announcement point to a program aimed at a broad audience and songs with strong radio and concert resonance.
The special feature of the evening will be the venue. Kažun Park provides an open setting in which stone structures and the Istrian landscape create a different experience from concerts on squares or in large halls. Such a location can emphasize a more intimate atmosphere, especially in the evening slot when light, scenography and the natural surroundings merge into a unique frame. For visitors coming to Vodnjan for the first time, the concert can also be a reason to discover a town that is increasingly associated in tourist descriptions with murals, olive groves, sacred heritage and the stone landscape of the Vodnjan area.
According to currently available information, Damir Kedžo’s concert in Kažun Park will take place on Thursday, June 25, 2026, starting at 21:00. Admission has been announced as free, and official calendars list the Vodnjan Tourist Board as the organizational contact. In case of additional notices about traffic, arrival or possible schedule changes, visitors are advised to check the organizer’s official channels before departure. This ensures that the evening in Kažun Park remains what it was announced to be: a summer encounter of music, audience and dry-stone heritage in one of the most recognizable spaces of the Vodnjan area.
Sources:
- Vodnjan-Dignano Tourist Board – official events calendar with the date, schedule and contact for Damir Kedžo’s concert (link)
- Official Istrian tourist portal – event listing “Concert: Damir Kedžo” with the location, date and starting time (link)
- Town of Vodnjan-Dignano – description of Kažun Park, its purpose and the presentation of kažun construction in four phases (link)
- Vodnjan-Dignano Tourist Board – description of kažuni, dry-stone walls and the project “Moj kažun - La mia casita” (link)
- Croatia Records – official biography of Damir Kedžo and overview of his music career (link)
- Eurovision Song Contest – official profile of Damir Kedžo for the song “Divlji vjetre” and biographical data (link)
- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage – inscription of the art of dry-stone walling on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (link)