It was another successful edition of the festival fcocused on the Danube region.
After two excellent weekends of music, gastronomy, and wine, the DunavArt Festival has successfully completed its second edition. With this festival, the Croatian Danube region has definitely been recognized as an attractive tourist, cultural, wine and gourmet destination that has a lot to offer to visitors to this region.
This year, the festival was held at four locations in Erdut, Vukovar, Ilok, and Batina. The rich and diverse programme attracted numerous visitors who enjoyed the Danube region’s food, wines, and art.
The DunavArt Festival was opened in Vukovar with the exhibition of the academic painter Tomislav Buntak, “Painting the World”. There was also a concert by the Putokazi band, together with jazz musician Zoran Majstorović, and a performance by Austrian band Die Wandervögel.
The Erdut vineyards were a home to the exhibition of light-ambient installations “Temporary Ambiences”, created in cooperation with the UKRO Association (MMML Studio project) and artists Angela Turkalj, Mario Čaušić and Mario Matoković. At this magical venue, DJ Flegma brought everyone to a relaxed state of mind with the “In Da Sofa” ambiance.
A real treat, a poetry evening with Enes Kišević “Poetry in a Glass”, was held with beautiful views of the Danube river, after which the band Zemlja Gruva from Belgrade prepared the audience for the performance of Scifidelity Orchestra, which fulfilled their promise and created an unforgettable music event.
As part of the festival, the International Day of the Danube was marked in Ilok with an international memorial race and the presentation of awards for the First International Assessment of Wines of the Danube Countries. In addition to the traditional dishes and wines from the Danube region, the visitors also enjoyed the Danube poetry and a concert by Scharf Club Swing Quintet.
Presentation of the traditional local gourmet gastronomy attracted numerous visitors to Batina in Baranja. The excellent music which perfectly suited the Danube wines was selected by DJ Umbo and deejayMilly, as an introduction to a concert by “the Queen of Sevdah Music” Amira Medunjanin, and the hot salsa rhythms of the Cubismo band.
As far as wines are concerned, there is no doubt that the areas through which the Danube passes have been known since ancient times for the cultivation of vines and the production of exceptionally good wines. The vineyards are cultivated in similar ecological conditions, so the experiences of vine-growers and winemakers around the Danube river are quite similar. That was a strong motive to launch this truly unique assessment of a whole range of wines which originate from this area. The international commission chaired by prof. dr. Bernard Kozina evaluated over a hundred samples from Hungary, Serbia, and Croatia.
Located above the Danube River, Ilok – a town of celebrated winegrowing tradition, which even today represent the mainstay of overall economic activities in the area – has been selected with a reason as the venue for the presentation of wines from the Danube countries. The ceremony was held on June 30 at Odescalchi Castle in Ilok, and the aim of the assessment is that the Croatian Danube Region should eventually become the centre of the gathering of vine-growers and winemakers from all the Danube countries, a venue where the best wines produced along the Danube will be presented each year.
The motto of the DunavArt Festival project, “Danube Flows and Connects”, is fully applicable to the wine as well, because there are few things which can entertain, enliven, gather and connect people like wine can. A total of four large gold diplomas, 32 gold, 53 silver, 9 bronze diplomas and 9 awards were presented.
More info on the winners can be found here http://www.turizamilok.hr/files-tzi/file/dokumenti/Rezultati.xlsx.
