DuList published on May 28, 2016 that this year Dubrovnik’s stunning Park Orsula is not going to organise its well known and loved festival.
Andro Vidak, the man who is, (very much alone) responsible for the beautiful, well maintained park and who is also the president of Ambient Croatia, explained the unfortunate situation on his blog in Croatian, I have translated the text into English.
”Dear members, friends and dear public,
The energy that is required for the organization of the festival at Park Orsula, the likes of which we have had the opportunity to witness over the last 5 years, I currently don’t possess. Therefore this year [the festival] will definitely not take place.
The reason is a combination of many unfavourable circumstances. We decided to pause and wait for a favourable outcome. We will wait as long as necessary.
You have seen the new ingenious traffic solution at the lookout [of Orsula] and that is just a drop that overflows [a drop in the ocean]. Then our bureaucracy. The Cultural Council and the administrative department for culture, then the City, choosing our program and incorporating it for public needs in relation to culture while at the same time in the sense of real estate, then the same City (Dubrovnik), disputes and charges you to use the space for the the same program. Our requests and suggestions for solving operational problems, for months, sat stagnating in the offices without an answer. We can not continue and we have designed, produced and served a done deal, with unmatched attraction, an incredible potential for a project that should be allowed to develop and grow and be the pride of the whole community. All of our friends, and their words full of praise about Park Orsula and sitting at our concerts, but again nothing happens… What would it be, then, to have enemies?!
We spent five crazy, stressful years at Park Orsula, and now we will finally take a break. We have completed everything we wanted to complete and now I do not want to repeat it and drown in a rut of perpetual compromise [in relation to red tape]. We would like to forward and not backwards.
For years we have invested all of our strength, prayed and searched, authorities, performers, and the audience etc. Now the time has come that we will be required or we will quietly retire.
As for our Park Orsula as a place, of course we’ll maintain it with all our strength for generations to come and nurture it as we have done up to now, with continued free entrance and welcome to all visitors.
Best regards to all: Andro Vidak, president of Ambient Croatia.”
For those who are unaware, Park Orsula is one of the most spectacular concert venues in Europe, situated high above the sea and island Lokrum, with a view over the Old City and the islands. A place of unparalleled beauty and atmosphere, managed by Andro Vidak, who worked hard on this once totally unwanted plot of land with his own hands, and who has now lost all energy and desire to continue after being continuously refused help or support from the City of Dubrovnik, or from the state.
Yet another sad story of red tape in this country.
