Hungary is the official partner country for this year’s Varazdin Baroque Evenings, a cultural event featuring the finest classical music in the latter half of September. Hungary was honoured in style by the 22nd Varazdin Flower Show, which ended on September 24, 2017 in the courtyard of the spectacular Varazdin Castle.
Late September is a wonderful time to visit the historic northern city of Varazdin, a former capital of Croatia. As the beaches of the Adriatic empty and kids turn to school, Varazdin focuses on its rightful reputation as one of the cultural centres of the country. The September highlight of this is the annual Varazdin Baroque Evenings, which this year opened on September 22 and will run until October 5 (see the full programme here). There are plenty of other things going on too, with the international lace festival in nearby Lepoglava showcasing both Croatia’s UNESCO lace tradition and many international varieties, as well as the Zeljarijada in Vidovec, where once again the world’s large sarma (cabbage leaves stuffed with mincemeat and rice) was performed. Add to that a visit to magnificent Trakoscan Castle and lunch by the lake, as we did with friends visiting from Munich, and a full and diverse weekend is in store.
One of the unlikely weekend highlights was the Varazdin Flower Show, which has been taking place for over twenty years as part of the Baroque Evenings festival. There is a nice tradition that the floral presentations, which are housed in the stunning Varazdin Castle, reflect the colours and traditions of the partner country, which this year is Hungary.
The first sign of this was on approach to the castle and this rough Hungarian flag on the right.
Which turned out to be a rather delightful display created by the local kindergartens, with plants and flowers planted in tiny shoes.
My favourite with this overflowing pot of goodness, the first arrangement I saw which featured the main ingredient to put the red in the Hungarian colours – paprika.
Varazdin is known as the City of Angels – a little paprika love.
And if you were not aware, the infamous Rubik cube comes from Hungary.
And so the displays went on all around the castle – each unique, each with its own Hungarian field. Really rather special.
The four-day festival will return next September to celebrate next year’s partner, who is still to be named. See you there.
