A kilometre-long celebration in Novi Vinodolski brought together 48 exhibitors and filled the coastal promenade
Novi Vinodolski, a coastal town in Kvarner in the northern part of the Adriatic, transformed its longest promenade into a large open-air meeting place filled with music and gastronomy on Friday, 24 July 2026. The Kilometre-Long Celebration once again took over the Petra Krešimira IV waterfront, also known as the Bribir waterfront, with a programme extending from the eastern entrance to the promenade all the way to Havana Beach Bar. According to a report published by the City of Novi Vinodolski after the event, the area was filled with visitors throughout the evening, and in some sections it was difficult to find any available space. The event brought together five musical groups, 48 exhibitors, numerous food stations and two children’s corners, creating an experience that did not take place on a single stage but along the entire waterfront. This arrangement allowed the audience to remain constantly on the move, stop at various points and experience the programme as an evening walk through a series of smaller events.
A kilometre of activities by the sea
The programme began at 8 p.m., as announced by the City of Novi Vinodolski and the local tourist board, while the organisation of the entire evening relied on the length of the promenade itself. Instead of a single central venue, music, stalls, food and drink offerings and family activities were distributed across several locations. This concept distinguishes the Kilometre-Long Celebration from conventional summer concerts and fairs because it allows visitors to set their own pace. Some stayed longer near the performances, others at the stalls of local producers, while families with children spent their time in workshop and entertainment zones. According to the official tourist presentation of the event, one of its objectives is to introduce visitors to a section of the waterfront that is less commonly included in regular tourist routes outside major events.
The Petra Krešimira IV waterfront is normally a place for walking, relaxing by the sea and recreation, while the Novi Vinodolski Tourist Board states that one section also includes an outdoor exercise area. During the celebration, its everyday function changed completely: the kilometre-long line by the sea became a pedestrian corridor filled with sound, the aromas of food and market stalls. Before the event, the organisers asked residents and visitors not to park vehicles on the waterfront from 2 p.m., while entrances were closed and traffic was redirected to other parking areas. In its announcement, the City explained that this measure was necessary to prepare the area and ensure the safety of pedestrians and vehicles. Although such logistical details are rarely visible after the evening ends, they were important for the operation of an event held on a promenade that became almost entirely car-free along its full length.
Forty-eight exhibitors presented handicrafts and homemade products
One of the most visible parts of the programme was the exhibition area, which featured a total of 48 participants. According to information from the City of Novi Vinodolski, the selection included unique handicrafts, souvenirs and various homemade products, while visitors showed the greatest interest in stalls run by local and small-scale producers. Along the promenade, they could find sweets, liqueurs, products made from honey, lavender and wild herbs, natural cosmetics, as well as decorative and practical objects made in small batches. In its report from the event, Novi list particularly highlighted fritters, honey and herbal products and handicrafts whose diversity created the impression that almost nothing was missing from the stalls. Such an offering gave the event the character of a fair without separating it from the musical and gastronomic programme.
For small producers and associations, events like this are not merely places to sell their goods but opportunities to present products to an audience that might not otherwise encounter them in ordinary shops or hospitality establishments. Visitors also gain a more direct insight into the origin of the products, the production process and local ingredients, while conversations with the exhibitors themselves become part of the experience. At the Kilometre-Long Celebration, this contact was particularly pronounced because the offering was presented on an open promenade, without fixed boundaries between the fair and the other activities. People stopped at the stalls between two musical performance points or before heading to the food stations, allowing the different parts of the programme to complement one another naturally. This enabled the event to retain the informal atmosphere of a summer evening while also giving visibility to products associated with local craftsmanship and gastronomy.
Five groups spread music along the entire waterfront
Five groups were responsible for the evening’s musical programme: TS Funtana, Joso Butorac i Vivak, Klapa Intriga, Grupa Dijagnoza and Smooth Band. The City of Novi Vinodolski stated that music accompanied the audience at every step, which was possible thanks to performances distributed across different points along the promenade. Instead of all visitors gathering in front of a single stage, the audience was divided among the performers, and the musical atmosphere changed depending on the section of the waterfront. Tamburica music, traditional klapa singing and entertainment repertoires alternated within the same programme, allowing the event to attract audiences of different generations and musical tastes. At the same time, this arrangement prevented one location from dominating the entire evening and encouraged visitors to walk the full route of the event.
This musical concept is particularly well suited to a seaside setting, where the audience does not behave as it would at a concert with a strictly defined beginning and end. Visitors could listen to several songs, continue their walk, taste some food and then stop near another group. Within this rhythm, the boundary between the performers and the rest of the programme almost disappeared, with the music becoming the soundtrack to the entire event. According to reports published after the celebration, the continuous presence of music, combined with the large number of people and the open space by the sea, created the impression that the entire waterfront had been transformed into a single summer stage. The success of such an arrangement depends on good coordination between performers and technical stations, but also on a sufficiently large space capable of accommodating several activities at the same time.
Food stations attracted the greatest attention
The largest crowds formed around the food stations, of which there were more than in previous editions, according to the official City report. The selection included fish specialities, street food, local prosciutto, various grilled dishes and the special nostalgic Novi Vinodolski anchovy. The aromas of food being prepared spread across the promenade and often determined where the audience would stop next. Novi list reported that approximately 100 kilograms of mussels were prepared at one of the stations, together with prawns cooked buzara-style, while sea bream, ćevapčići, wine and prosciutto were offered at other locations. Members of the Ružica Vinodola Association of Friends of Grapes and Wine presented a combination of local wine and prosciutto, further connecting the celebration with the gastronomic identity of the Vinodol area.
The importance of food at an event like this is not limited to the range of dishes on the menu. The food stations functioned as gathering places where visitors from different parts of the promenade met, from members of the audience following the music to families arriving from the children’s corners. The selection was diverse enough to include both simpler dishes that could be eaten while walking and specialities that encouraged people to stay longer. The combination of seafood, meat, local products and contemporary street food demonstrated how traditional and more modern formats can be presented within the same event. Rather than a formal gastronomic showcase, the Kilometre-Long Celebration offered an open sequence of kitchens and stalls whose contents were discovered while walking along the waterfront.
The specific mention of the nostalgic anchovy points to an effort to highlight, within the extensive selection, flavours associated with local memories and simpler coastal cuisine. Such dishes often carry a value expressed not only through their ingredients but also through stories about former eating habits, available foods and the coastal way of life. Among large pans of mussels, grilled fish, prosciutto and quick snacks, the anchovy represented a smaller but recognisable element of the offering. It was precisely the combination of representative dishes and simple local snacks that gave the gastronomic section its breadth. Visitors could therefore choose between familiar flavours and specialities more strongly connected with Novi Vinodolski and its surroundings.
Science experiments and face painting for the youngest visitors
The organisers dedicated part of the promenade to children, for whom two separate corners were arranged. Face painting was offered in one, while Tinker Labs organised an interactive science workshop in the other. According to the Tourist Board’s announcement and local media reports, children learned through experiments how to launch a rocket, how dry ice creates a fog effect and what can be discovered by exploring bubbles. The workshop was designed as an entertaining activity while simultaneously introducing basic scientific phenomena through experience and participation. The children’s programme was therefore not limited to passive entertainment but also included an educational component.
Including activities for children is important for an event that aims to maintain a family-friendly character over several evening hours. While adults visited the stalls or listened to music, the youngest attendees were given a space where they could actively participate, ask questions and conduct simple experiments. The science workshop was particularly suitable for the celebration’s open format because it did not require a prolonged stay indoors or a strictly defined schedule for the entire audience. Children could join individual activities and then continue exploring the event with their families. Summer photo corners were also installed alongside the workshops, allowing visitors to capture memories from the event.
Fireworks launched from the sea marked the climax of the evening
At exactly 11 p.m., the sky above Novi Vinodolski was illuminated by fireworks launched from the sea. The official announcement stated that the pyrotechnic display had been designed to be visible along the entire kilometre-long promenade, while reports published after the event confirmed that this moment was the climax of the programme. Positioning the fireworks on the seaward side allowed the audience, spread over a considerable distance, to watch them without gathering at a single location. For some visitors, the end of the fireworks was a signal to leave, while many remained on the waterfront and continued the evening with music and conversation. The City stated that after 11 p.m., a gentle summer bora wind made the pleasant temperature even cooler.
The fireworks therefore served as a shared moment within an event whose other activities took place simultaneously. Throughout the evening, the audience had been distributed among musical performance points, stalls, food stations and children’s zones, but at 11 p.m. almost everyone turned their gaze towards the sea. This brief interruption to the usual rhythm of the walk gave the event a clear dramatic high point, after which the programme could gradually wind down. At the same time, it did not mark a strict ending: part of the audience remained outdoors, confirming that the appeal of the event lay in the atmosphere itself and not only in the individual advertised activities. An evening by the sea remained the central setting in which music, food, the fair and socialising came together.
An event that activates a lesser-known section of the city waterfront
The Novi Vinodolski Tourist Board describes the Kilometre-Long Celebration as a traditional late-July event organised on a section of the waterfront that is less familiar to tourists than the central city locations. This is one of the event’s more important effects: temporarily moving a major summer programme to a long promenade expands the movement of visitors and creates a reason to discover a different part of the town. The waterfront is not merely a backdrop but a key element of the concept because it determines the form of the event, the arrangement of activities and the way the audience explores them. Without this kilometre-long route, the celebration would lose its recognisable format and become just another concentrated summer programme in a square or on a stage. Here, by contrast, the walk itself formed an integral part of the evening.
For towns that generate most of their tourist activity during the summer months, events of this kind have a dual role. They provide residents with activities in a public space while giving visitors a reason to spend an evening in town in addition to swimming and sightseeing. It is important that such an event does not lose its connection with the local community, which was achieved in Novi Vinodolski through the participation of associations, producers, hospitality providers and musicians. The local offering was not isolated in a separate folklore segment but incorporated throughout the entire route of the event. Visitors planning a longer stay can browse accommodation offers in Novi Vinodolski, particularly when the date of the celebration coincides with other summer programmes in the town and surrounding area.
This year’s edition demonstrated that the Kilometre-Long Celebration can simultaneously function as a concert evening, a fair for small producers, a gastronomic event and a family-oriented celebration. The figures of 48 exhibitors, five musical groups and a larger number of food stations confirm the scale of the programme, while the crowds along the promenade demonstrated the public’s interest. Equally important is the fact that the activities were not confined to a single zone but activated the entire Petra Krešimira IV waterfront, from the eastern entrance to Havana Beach Bar. Novi Vinodolski thus experienced an evening in which the town was not viewed from a single stage but discovered step by step, accompanied by music, the aromas of food and a view of the sea. After the fireworks and the gradual departure of the audience, the promenade returned to its everyday role, but another edition of the event further consolidated its status as one of the most recognisable occasions of the Novi Vinodolski summer.
Sources:
- City of Novi Vinodolski – official report on the Kilometre-Long Celebration, the number of exhibitors, the programme, the food offering, children’s activities and fireworks (link)
- City of Novi Vinodolski – programme announcement and information about the event time, performers, traffic regulation and safety arrangements (link)
- Novi Vinodolski Tourist Board – official description of the event, its location, the children’s workshop and the role of the Petra Krešimira IV waterfront in the event concept (link)
- Novi Vinodolski Tourist Board – background and traditional character of the Kilometre-Long Celebration and its objective of activating a lesser-known section of the city waterfront (link)
- Novi list – on-site report about exhibitors, the distinctive gastronomic offering, performances and activities for children (link)