Vukovar was the center of intangible heritage for three days: the 8th “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” festival brought together more than 600 participants
In Vukovar, on Sunday, May 3, 2026, the eighth edition of the Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Tourist Events, Attractions and Destinations “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” concluded. During the three festival days, from May 1 to 3, the city was filled with musical, folklore, educational, children’s, fair and street programs, and the event once again confirmed Vukovar’s role as a meeting place of tradition, contemporary performance forms and tourism promotion. The program took place at several city locations, with central events on Republic of Croatia Square and in the city center area, where concerts, performances by cultural and artistic societies, children’s programs, street performances and presentations of tourist events from different regions alternated.
According to the organizers’ data, this year’s festival brought together more than 600 participants from the Croatian and international cultural and artistic scene, and during the three days it attracted several thousand visitors. In this way, the event further strengthened the position of a cultural event that brings together not only performers and guardians of traditional practices, but also tourist boards, associations, young people from the homeland and the diaspora, artists, craftsmen, producers of indigenous products and families with children. For visitors who stayed in the city during the festival days or are planning to come to similar events, accommodation offers in Vukovar are also available, especially important in periods when major cultural and tourist events are held in the city at the same time.
The festival opened with the program “Welcome to Vukovar”
The eighth edition of the festival was opened on May 1 with the program “Welcome to Vukovar”, in which Vukovar music performers participated. The opening set the basic tone of the entire event: connecting the local scene, national heritage and a festival atmosphere in which cultural content is presented to a broad audience, and not only to a narrow circle of connoisseurs of folklore and traditional art. Such a concept is also important for intangible heritage itself because it is preserved not only through documentation and professional processing, but above all through public performance, the transfer of knowledge and the inclusion of new generations.
This year the festival was held in the context of the Day of the City of Vukovar and the feast of Saints Philip and James, the heavenly patrons of the city. Such a time frame gave the program additional solemnity, and the last festival day, May 3, was especially dedicated to heritage content. Even before the beginning of the festival, the organizers announced that from May 1 to 3 Vukovar would once again become a center of togetherness, tradition, music and cultural diversity, and the completed program confirmed that this is an event developing as a recognizable combination of cultural heritage, tourism and public city life.
BAŠTINA.HR presented the richness of Croatian intangible cultural heritage
The central part of the festival this year as well was the BAŠTINA.HR program, held on May 3, on the Day of the City of Vukovar. This program was conceived as a stage for presenting valuable forms of intangible cultural heritage, including traditional dances, songs, customs and performance practices preserved in local communities, cultural and artistic societies and associations. In its data, the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia emphasizes that Croatia has a large number of properties inscribed on UNESCO lists, including intangible cultural properties and good safeguarding practices, which further explains why events focused on the live presentation of heritage are important for cultural policy and the public visibility of traditional knowledge.
As part of the BAŠTINA.HR program, notable performances were given by the Children’s Folklore Ensemble Srčeka, which operates within the Zagreb-Markovac Folklore Ensemble, the vocal ensemble LIPE from Sisak, KUD Družina from the island of Pag, KUD Punat from the island of Krk, KUD Valentinovo from Zagreb and KUD Posavka from Oborovo. The program also included Croatian communities outside the Republic of Croatia: the Croatian Cultural and Educational Society Matija Gubec from Tavankut presented the heritage of the Bunjevci Croats, the Croatian Cultural Association Antun Sorgg from Vajska brought another segment of the Croatian cultural space of Vojvodina, and the Croatian Cultural Society Napredak from Odžak presented the heritage of Bosnian Posavina. Precisely such a selection of participants shows that the festival does not view heritage as a closed local repertoire, but as a network of customs, identities and communities extending across administrative borders.
Meetings of youth and majorettes brought a new festival chapter
Alongside already recognizable programs, this year’s edition of the festival also brought several important novelties. Organized by the International Network of Croatian Youth, the 1st International Meeting of Croatian Youth was held, conceived as a space for connecting young people from the homeland and the diaspora. The meeting program included educational workshops and panels on entrepreneurship for young people, as well as discussions on possibilities of return, professional networking and more active inclusion of young people in social and economic processes. In addition, the participants toured Vukovar landmarks and, through the festival programs, had the opportunity to become acquainted with representative examples of Croatian intangible cultural heritage.
For the first time, the festival also hosted the Meeting of Majorettes and Pom-Pon Clubs. The program featured the Majorettes of the City of Vukovar and majorettes from Sinj, Glina, Rijeka, the island of Krk, Karlovac and Bjelovar. This part of the program expanded the festival profile toward stage and sports performance forms based on choreography, teamwork, public performance and local recognizability. In the context of an event that wants to bring together different forms of creativity, the meeting of majorettes served as an example of how traditional and contemporary public performances can complement one another in the same urban space.
Young voices marked the musical part of the festival
Special attention from the audience was attracted by the finalists of the first and second seasons of the show The Voice Kids Croatia, who performed in several programs during the festival. On the first festival evening, they participated in the concert “Believe in Love”, dedicated to the songs of Zdenko Runjić, one of the most important authors of popular music in the Croatian area. On the third festival day, they also held several concerts titled “Road to the Stars”, performing covers of domestic and foreign hits. In this way, the festival gained a strong intergenerational element: alongside the guardians of traditional heritage, young performers who are only just building their musical paths presented themselves on stage.
The most emotional part of their performance was the concert of patriotic songs “Voices of Remembrance”, held on May 2 on the occasion of marking the 35th anniversary of the death of 12 police officers in Borovo Selo. The young singers performed a series of songs strongly connected with collective memory, among them “Vukovar, Vukovar”, “My Homeland”, “This Is Our Blood”, “Do Not Touch My Plain”, “Stamp Your Heels”, “To My Land Croatia”, “If You Do Not Know What Happened” and “Falcons”. The audience followed the concert with great attention, and according to the organizers’ reports, the performances of the young singers provoked strong reactions and collective singing. In a city whose contemporary history is deeply marked by wartime suffering, such a program had both a commemorative and a cultural dimension.
Trio Gušt and Danijela Martinović got the central square dancing
The evening concert program of the festival was shaped to attract a broad audience and round off the daily heritage, children’s and educational content. On the first festival evening, Trio Gušt performed, bringing recognizable Dalmatian hits and an atmosphere intended for a large city audience. On the last day of the festival, as the finale of the three-day program, Danijela Martinović held a concert on the packed Republic of Croatia Square.
Her performance lasted about two hours and included songs from different stages of her career. The audience heard old hits by the group Magazin, including “Tamara”, “Rano” and “Kokolo”, as well as songs from her solo career such as “Zovem te ja”, “Neka mi ne svane” and “Danima, godinama, satima”. Covers of the songs “Cesarica”, “Željo moja” and “Malo mi za sriću triba” were also performed. The concert served as the great festival finale, but also as a public gathering through which Vukovar, in the final hours of the City Day, gained a recognizable celebratory atmosphere. For those who followed the festival through all three days, the central square became the main point of evening gathering and one of the reasons why increased interest in accommodation near festival locations in Vukovar can be expected for future editions.
The children’s program combined entertainment, theater and educational workshops
One of the important features of this year’s festival was the program for the youngest visitors. The organizers shaped it as a combination of entertainment, theater performances, creative workshops and presentations of events that already have a recognizable identity in other communities. The Toy Festival from Ivanić-Grad and the Christmas Village from Velika Gorica appeared as guests in Vukovar, and among the attractions, the race with Flintstones-style small cars on the Vukovar promenade particularly stood out, connected with the presentation of the Mammothfest event from Mohovo.
The children’s program also included educational workshops in painting licitar hearts and wooden toys, as well as kite-making workshops. Such content is important because it does not reduce the youngest audience only to observers of the festival program, but includes them in the process of making, learning and playing. Traditional skills in such an environment become more accessible and understandable, and children get to know them through practical work. Special guests of the festival were also artists from Ukraine: the theater group Vuala from Lviv performed the attractive program “Colors of the Circus”, which further expanded the international dimension of the festival to contemporary performance forms intended for family audiences.
The eco-ethno fair and tourist events expanded the festival offer
Alongside the stage programs, the festival also included an eco-ethno fair with indigenous products from different regions. Such fairs within cultural events have an important economic and promotional role: they enable producers to meet the public directly, and offer visitors an opportunity to get to know local products, crafts and gastronomic specialties. When such content is connected with music, tradition and tourist events, the festival grows into a multi-day event that encourages the movement of people through the city, increases spending and extends visitors’ stays.
It is precisely the tourist dimension that is one of the recognizable features of the “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” festival. The event presents not only cultural and artistic programs, but also destinations, attractions and events from other regions, making Vukovar a place of exchange of festival experiences. For a city developing cultural, memorial, river and event tourism, such programs have a wider effect than festival attendance itself. They create a reason to come, but also a reason for a longer stay, sightseeing and the use of local services. For this reason, during major events there is increasingly frequent demand for accommodation for visitors in Vukovar, especially when the program takes place during extended weekends and holiday periods.
The organizers emphasize creativity, diversity and the contemporary presentation of heritage
The director of the Vukovar Tourist Board, Marina Sekulić, pointed out shortly before the closing of the festival that this year’s edition brought a special energy to the city, creativity and diversity that connects tradition, gastronomy and contemporary interpretations of the cultural scene. In her assessment, such events additionally confirm Vukovar’s position as a destination that nurtures its own values, while at the same time presenting them in a modern and attractive way. She also expressed satisfaction that the festival once again attracted a large number of visitors.
Such a message describes well the broader meaning of the event. Intangible cultural heritage cannot remain alive if it is closed in archives, registers and occasional professional gatherings. It requires public space, performers, an audience and new generations that will recognize it as part of a living cultural experience. The Vukovar festival builds its recognizability precisely on this: it brings together folklore ensembles, vocal groups, young singers, majorettes, craftsmen, children’s theater programs, tourist events and international guests in a format accessible to a broad audience.
An event with cultural, tourist and social significance
This year’s festival was held in co-organization by the City of Vukovar and the Vukovar Tourist Board, together with the Croatian House Materina priča. It was financially supported by the City of Vukovar, the Croatian National Tourist Board, the Vukovar-Srijem County Tourist Board and Vukovar-Srijem County. Such an organizational framework shows that the event is developing as a project that goes beyond a one-day cultural program and enters the area of strategic promotion of the city and county.
For Vukovar, the festival is also important because it fits into the broader image of the city as a space of memory, culture and tourism. The City Day, concerts, children’s programs, youth meetings, eco-ethno offer and heritage performances together create a multi-layered event that attracts different groups of visitors. Some come because of folklore and intangible heritage, others because of concerts, others because of the family program or fair offer, while some visitors connect their arrival with touring the city’s landmarks. Precisely this diversity makes the festival sustainable and gives it potential for further growth.
The eighth edition of “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” ended as a three-day confirmation that cultural heritage can be presented in a contemporary, public and inclusive way, without losing its own identity. During the first three days of May, Vukovar was a stage of tradition, music, children’s creativity, youth meetings and tourist stories from different communities, and the final image of the packed city square showed that this format has an audience and room for continuation in future editions.
Sources:
- Vukovar Tourist Board – announcement and program of the 8th “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” festival from May 1 to 3, 2026 (link)
- City of Vukovar – official announcement on the presentation of the program of the Day of the City of Vukovar and the 8th “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” festival (link)
- SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ – official website of the event and organizers’ posts (link)
- Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia – data on Croatian cultural heritage on UNESCO lists (link)
- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage – official overview of elements of intangible cultural heritage connected with Croatia (link)
- Glas Slavonije – report on the presentation of the program of the Day of the City of Vukovar and the “SVI zaJEDNO HRVATSKO NAJ” festival (link)