Evening of the Matulji Pensioners' Association brings song, dance and special guests
The Matulji Summer Evenings continue their program on Saturday, August 22, 2026, with an event that has held a special place in the summer calendar of the Municipality of Matulji for many years. The traditional Evening of the Pensioners' Association of the Municipality of Matulji begins at 9 p.m. at the Matulji Amphitheatre, and the organizers are announcing a program filled with song, dance and socializing. This year, the Association's members will be joined on stage by the Tamburitza Orchestra of KUD "Zametski koren" and contemporary dancer Niko Herega. According to the published program of the Matulji Summer Evenings, admission to events within the festival is free, and an alternative venue has also been planned for programs at the Amphitheatre in the event of unfavorable weather conditions. If the weather does not allow the evening to be held outdoors, the program will be moved to the Matulji School Sports Hall.
This year's Evening of the Pensioners' Association comes in the final part of the 31st edition of the "Matulji Summer Evenings - Tramontana Will Freshen You Up" festival, which is held during June, July and August at several locations in the Matulji area. The Amphitheatre remains the central stage for most of the program, a venue that over the decades has become one of the recognizable places of local cultural life. The Matulji Tourist Board states that the festival has been held since 1995, which means that over more than three decades it has brought together different generations of performers and audiences. This year's program includes concerts, theatre and puppet performances, folklore evenings, blues, an outdoor film screening and performances by local associations. Within this broad range of content, the Evening of the Pensioners' Association occupies a special place because it brings cultural amateurism, the social activity of senior citizens, musical tradition and contemporary dance to the same stage.
An evening that has become a tradition of the Matulji Summer Evenings
The event announcement places emphasis on the members of the Pensioners' Association, who present themselves to the audience with a program in which movement, cheerfulness and joint performance play an important role. The organizers point out that year after year the Association's members attract attention with their energy and dance steps, while this year's edition has been further expanded with guest appearances by a tamburitza orchestra and a contemporary dancer. Such a combination is not only a matter of program diversity but also a good example of how summer festivals can connect different performing practices. Traditional music and the dance activities of older participants will meet contemporary dance expression, while the audience will experience an evening shaped around togetherness, live performance and direct contact between performers and spectators. For an event held in a local amphitheatre, precisely this closeness between stage and audience is one of the important parts of the atmosphere.
The association performing in Matulji is also marking an important anniversary in 2026. The Municipality of Matulji announced that the Association of Pensioners and Senior Citizens of the Municipality of Matulji was founded in 2006 and today has around 430 members. Over twenty years, according to data from the Municipality, the members have organized performances, excursions, gatherings, workshops and lectures, while some activities have been dedicated to preserving the Chakavian dialect, local customs and cultural heritage. At the celebration marking 20 years of activity at the Hangar in Matulji, members presented themselves to the audience through song, dance and a short play, further demonstrating that stage programs are not an isolated activity but part of the Association's broader and long-term work. The evening of August 22 can therefore also be viewed as a continuation of that continuity, in a year in which the organization celebrates two decades of activity in the local community.
"Zametski koren" brings more than a century of cultural amateurism
One of the evening's special guests will be the Tamburitza Orchestra of KUD "Zametski koren". According to information from the society itself, "Zametski koren" was founded in June 1922 as the Singing and Tamburitza Society "Zametski koren" Gornji Zamet, and throughout its history it has brought together tamburitza players, choirs, drama groups and other sections. The Tamburitza Orchestra was re-established in more recent times in 1998, after which it continued operating continuously. The society states that the orchestra has given more than 400 performances in Rijeka, other parts of Croatia and on international guest appearances, while its ensemble brings together members of different ages. This generational breadth is particularly interesting in the context of the Evening of the Pensioners' Association because it fits well with the idea of a cultural program that does not set age boundaries between participants.
"Zametski koren" has been present in the local cultural scene for more than a century, and its tamburitza orchestra represents a tradition of organized amateur music-making that is an important part of social life in many communities. Its performance in Matulji therefore brings the sound of the tamburitza to the program, as well as the broader context of the long-standing work of cultural and artistic societies. According to KUD information, the orchestra is led by Emil Mance, and the society has received a number of awards throughout its history for its contribution to cultural amateurism. For the audience of the Evening of the Pensioners' Association, the guest appearance of such an ensemble means an additional expansion of the musical part of the program, especially because tamburitza music is naturally associated with social gatherings, communal singing and dancing. The organizers have not yet published a detailed repertoire for the evening, so it has not been officially confirmed which pieces the orchestra will perform.
Contemporary dance as a contrast and complement to the more traditional program
Niko Herega, announced as a contemporary dancer, will also appear on stage. His participation introduces a different performing language into an evening in which music, dance and social gathering are the program's main connecting elements. In June 2026, Herega was among the performers at the Gala Dance Evening of Alma Mater Europaea - Academy of Dance, where students presented themselves through various dance performances. His appearance in Matulji can therefore be placed within the broader context of contemporary dance education and stage work, without any need to assume in advance what choreography he will perform on August 22. The organizers have not published details of the performance, its duration or its title, so the audience will discover the full content of his performance during the evening itself.
Including contemporary dance alongside a tamburitza orchestra and performances by Association members shows how strongly the concept of the Matulji Summer Evenings relies on combining different genres. The 2026 festival program is not shaped around a single type of music or a single generation of audience, but includes klapa singing, singer-songwriter and popular music concerts, theatre, traditional content, blues, family programs and film. Such an approach allows local associations and amateur performers to appear within the same festival framework as professional musicians and theatre ensembles. In this sense, the Evening of the Pensioners' Association is not an isolated event on the margins of the program, but one of the points confirming its intention to open the summer stage to different groups of performers. For the audience, this means that a single event can combine elements of an entertainment evening, a cultural presentation and an intergenerational encounter.
Matulji Summer Evenings continue until the end of August
The Evening of the Pensioners' Association takes place during a very eventful final week of this year's festival. According to the official program, the following day, Sunday, August 23, a concert by Amira Medunjanin is scheduled at the Amphitheatre starting at 9 p.m. The following Saturday, August 29, the program features the Evening of the Domoljub 1909 Association, while an open-air Art-kino film screening is announced for Sunday, August 30. This will conclude the multi-month series of events that began on June 7 with a performance by accordionist Leonardo Rojnić. During the summer, the program also featured, among others, Zorica Kondža, Mauro Staraj, the female klapa Luka, Klapa Skalin, KUD Učka, Kerekesh Teatar, performers from the Jerry Ricks Blues Festival, as well as numerous local musicians and associations.
In its program announcement, the Municipality of Matulji emphasizes that events are held not only at the central Amphitheatre but also at other locations such as Mune, Škrapna, Breg and Štacion. This spatial distribution is important to the character of the festival because the cultural program does not remain tied exclusively to a single stage. At the same time, the Amphitheatre retains its role as the main meeting place for audiences and performers, especially for evening concerts and larger events. In its materials, the Tourist Board describes this very venue as an indispensable stage for cultural events in Matulji. The title "Tramontana Will Freshen You Up" draws on a local expression and on the tramontana, a wind that the organizers emphasize as a recognizable part of the experience of summer evenings outdoors.
Twenty years of activity by Matulji pensioners
The broader context of the Association's work shows that its role is not limited to one annual performance. In earlier projects and programs, members participated in dance and creative workshops, exercise sessions, social gatherings, excursions, cultural and artistic evenings and other activities aimed at active ageing and social inclusion. In May 2026, the Municipality of Matulji published a decision on allocating funds to civil society programs, under which the Association of Pensioners and Senior Citizens of the Municipality of Matulji was awarded funding for cooking workshops and a creative dance workshop for pensioners. Each of these two programs received EUR 6,000, or EUR 12,000 in total, within the area of programs aimed at senior citizens. This information shows that dance, creativity and socializing also have a place in the Association's regular activities, not only in its public stage performances.
Even earlier, through the project "Active Pensioners - Long-Lived Residents", the Association and the Municipality of Matulji conducted a large number of workshops and activities aimed at reducing the social exclusion of older people. The Municipality's final report states that more than 2,000 activities were held across ten programs and that more than 300 pensioners took part. Among the activities that attracted particular interest were dance and creative workshops and cultural and artistic evenings. Although that project ended earlier, its content helps explain why the Association's performance at the Matulji Summer Evenings has continuity and why members who participate in various forms of social and cultural work throughout the year appear on stage. The evening of August 22 is therefore both a public event and a visible result of activities carried out throughout the year.
Practical information for visitors
The program on Saturday, August 22, 2026, begins at 9 p.m. at the Matulji Amphitheatre. According to the official festival leaflet, admission is free. Since the event is held outdoors, the organizers have planned an alternative in advance for bad weather: all programs scheduled at the Amphitheatre will move to the Matulji School Sports Hall in the event of unfavorable weather conditions. Before arriving, it is therefore useful to check the organizers' latest announcements, especially if the weather forecast is unstable. In the official program, the organizer also reserves the right to make changes to the program.
Matulji is located in the hinterland of the Opatija Riviera, in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, and the Matulji Tourist Board describes the town and its surroundings as the green-blue hinterland of the Riviera and a historic traffic crossroads. Visitors coming to Matulji for the evening program and planning to stay in the surrounding area can find accommodation offers in Matulji and the surrounding area. Since this is a summer weekend date, it is practical to plan the journey in advance, especially for those unfamiliar with the Amphitheatre's location or arriving from other parts of Kvarner and beyond. The official program does not announce any special ticket or seat reservation for the event, while information about any subsequent organizational changes should be followed through the channels of the Municipality of Matulji and the Matulji Tourist Board.
A meeting of generations at the close of the summer program
For the audience coming to the Matulji Amphitheatre on August 22, the basic information is simple: the program begins at 9 p.m., admission is free, and the evening is conceived as a combination of song, dance and socializing. The combination of Association members, the "Zametski koren" Tamburitza Orchestra and Niko Herega connects different generations and performing approaches in a single evening. In the event of bad weather, the event will be moved to the School Sports Hall. After that, the Matulji Summer Evenings will continue for several more days, with a concert by Amira Medunjanin, the Evening of the Domoljub 1909 Association and the final open-air film screening. This will close the 31st edition of the festival, which has been held in Matulji since 1995 and has over the decades become an important part of the summer cultural calendar of this part of Kvarner.
Sources:
- Matulji Tourist Board - official leaflet and program of the Matulji Summer Evenings 2026, including the date, time, location, free admission and alternative venue in the event of bad weather (link)
- Matulji Tourist Board - announcement of the 31st Matulji Summer Evenings and information about the festival, which has been held since 1995 (link)
- Municipality of Matulji - overview of the Matulji Summer Evenings 2026 program and information about event locations (link)
- Municipality of Matulji - information on 20 years of activity of the Association of Pensioners and Senior Citizens of the Municipality of Matulji and its number of members (link)
- Municipality of Matulji - decision on funding programs for senior citizens in 2026 (link)
- KUD "Zametski koren" - history of the society, information about the tamburitza orchestra and its activities (link)
- Teklić - current announcement of the Evening of the Pensioners' Association featuring guest appearances by the "Zametski koren" Tamburitza Orchestra and Niko Herega (link)
- Alma Mater Europaea - program of the 2026 Gala Dance Evening with Niko Herega among the performers of the Academy of Dance (link)