The 12th Sinj Village Fair was successfully held on Dr. Franje Tuđman Square from August 5 to 6, organized by the Sinj Tourist Board, with the support of the City of Sinj and the Cetinje Region LAG – through the ‘Dinara back to life’ project (LIFE18NAT/HR/000847).
It was attended by more than 25 exhibitors from the Cetina region, Kaštela, Marina, Split, Vrgorac, and Zagorje, who presented their products, from ornaments and handicrafts to gourmet delicacies and products from the village and islands. Old local crafts were also offered, such as the production of folk costumes, opanaks, bakeware, copper, garden tools and other traditional wooden handicrafts and collectibles.
The fair was opened by Miro Bulj, the mayor of Sinj, and all the visitors and participants were blessed by Fr. Marinko Vukman, guardian and director of the Church of Our Lady of Sinj.
In the entertainment part of the program, the Sinj majorettes enhanced the atmosphere as they do with every event. Visitors followed the performances of the faithful guardians of local traditions and customs through the songs and dances of Dalmatian Zagora, which are on the list of the intangible cultural heritage of the Republic of Croatia. This included the Association for Preserving Cetina Region Heritage, KUD Vrilo – Obrovac Sinjski, URIG from Otok, KUD Krenica – Gala, KUD Cetina, KUD Glavice, and KUD Dicmo, who performed the traditional rera, the Sinj kola and the final Vrli kola from the opera ‘Ero s onoga svijeta’.
Then, Goran Mikas, who presented the chants and musical instruments of Poljica, and the visiting cultural and artistic societies, such as the singing group “Krčevljani” Vitez (BiH), HKUD Sv. Ante Humac – Ljubuški (BiH), KUD “Ilinden” from Demir Hisar (North Macedonia), who introduced us to the traditions and customs of their region. On the final night of the fair, Ljuta kuća performed to raise the atmosphere.
Visitors also took part in engaging educational workshops. Thus, they had the opportunity to get acquainted with the traditional pottery from Potravlje through the production of clay dishes under the skillful hands of master Ivan Knezović. This traditional craft was nominated for UNESCO protection by the Ministry of Culture. The Tourist Board, under the auspices of the Ministry, organizes well-attended educational workshops every year. Visitors could learn about the forgotten skill of making opanak shoes, the only footwear known to Sinj’s ancestors and which served them faithfully and for a long time in all activities, as well as the art of weaving baskets at Ljilje Vojković’s workshop.
Art & wine by Ana Poljak presented excellent works of art and wine from OPG Mažurin, along with a wool spinning workshop presented by Jasna and Domina Bilač, members of the Lipota Association. The fair also featured an exhibition of student works from the Split School of Crafts on “Women in Alka” and participants of last year’s Sinj photo workshop “The World in Colors.”
All visitors to the fair could take part in all the workshops for free and taste local gastronomic delicacies: Sinj uštipak prepared by the members of the Old Crafts Association as well as Sinj gingerbread prepared by Ankica Župić according to the original Sinj recipe.
The 12th Sinj village fair was led by prof. Branimir Romac.
“We would like to thank everyone who helped us bring this fair to life, especially: the City of Sinj and the LAG of Cetinje krajina – Dinara back to life (LIFE18NAT/HR/000847), the Alka Knights Society, the Shrine of the Miraculous Lady of Sinj, the employees of Cistoca in the Cetinje region, KUS-Sinj, Sinj majorettes, Srma association, exhibitors, Cultural and artistic societies, Kamičak d.d., Sinj bobi, MUP PP Sinj, HEP – Sinj, Elektro Bekan, Branki Marinović, and Maja Kovačević.
For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.
