Many comic book fans from around the world have marked in their calendars the period from 23 to 26 May, when Makarska will host MaFest, by far the largest and most popular international festival of comics in Croatia and the wider region. This will be the 12th edition of the annual festival. During its existence, MaFest has brought more than 12,000 visitors to Makarska, and a similar level of interest is expected this year as well, reports Lokalni.hr on May 7, 2019.
Dario Antunović, director of MaFest, says that the first part of the festival, dedicated to primary school children from the Makarska area, has already been held. “The festival has been held in two parts for years. We have decided to split workshops for elementary schools in the Makarska area from events aimed at a wider audience,” explains Antunović, adding that the 12th edition of the MaFest will include two exhibitions of original drawings, numerous forums and comic signing events, as well as a comic book exchange and concerts. “The list of guests who have confirmed their visit to Makarska currently has 65 names on it, coming from 11 countries from around the world,” adds Antunović.
As many as 15 special guests are expected, including: Ivana Armanini (Croatia), Alessio Avallone (Italy), Vanessa Belardo (Italy), Krešimir Biuk (Croatia), Fernando Blanco (Spain), Serge Carrere (France), Matteo Cremona (Italy), Shawn Crystal (USA), Fernando Dagnino (Spain), Maurizio Di Vincenzo (Italy), Michele Masiero (Italy), Francis Portela (Spain), Zoran Smiljanić (Slovenia), Marco Soldi (Italy) and Frederic Volante (Italy).
“The tradition started in 2006, with posters in which some of the most famous comic books heroes appeared in Makarska. We continue this year, and 14 authors from the special guest list have already created them,” says Antunović, adding that the 2019 MaFest will be remembered for the third part of the exhibition of original drawings by great Andrija Maurović from 1937. Many were convinced that the drawings had been permanently lost because nothing was known about them for decades.
“We once again point out that this is a precious national cultural heritage, and that the public has until now never been able to see this third contingent. This year, we will also organize an exhibition of originals by Igor Kordej, one of the greatest Croatian comic authors, from the Colt & Pepper album. This will be its world premiere because the album will be released in France only in July,” adds Antunović.
The theme of this year’s prize competition for elementary school students is “Extra-Terrestrials in Makarska”, and the main prize will be a laptop. The festival will also present the new logo of Makarska – Town of Comics, designed by best Croatian designer Melina Mikulić.
The music part of the Festival will host two great Croatian bands, “Rezerve” and “Ischariotzcky”.
All festival events are free for all visitors.
The MaFest partners are the Town of Makarska, the Ministry of Culture, the Makarska Tourist Board, the Split-Dalmatia Tourist Board, Split-Dalmatia County, the Pivac meat industry, Miramare Aparthotel, Biokovo Hotel, Apfel, Julius Meinl, Premise, and many other friends and smaller sponsors.
Translated from Lokalni.hr (reported by Slavica Vuković).
More Makarska news can be found in the Lifestyle section.
