June 8, 2020 – The 305th Sinjska Alka will be traditionally held in Sinj this year on Sunday, August 9.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, countless planned events that would gather people en masse have been canceled all over the world, including Croatia. In order to protect human health, all power is delegated to epidemiologists who have been given the authority to prescribe measures and determine behavior in areas under their jurisdiction.
Croatia has somewhat returned to normalcy, but with the recommendation to continue maintaining distance, the main question in Sinj was when and under what conditions the 305th Sinjska Alka would be held. It has run consecutively since 1715, after all.
This issue troubled members of the Alka Knights Society and the Alka Administration, led by President Dr. Stipe Jukić, who are most responsible for nurturing this segment of cultural heritage that makes Sinj, the Alka region, but also the whole of Croatia, proud.
Slobodna Dalmacija interviewed Stipe Jukić to find out more.
Due to the favorable movement of the coronavirus epidemic, there are no doubts that this year’s Alka will be held.
“This year’s 305th Sinjska Alka will be held according to ancient customs, as required by the written regulations of the Alka Knights Society and oral tradition. We will hold the Alka on August 9, according to the statutory provision that the Alka be held on the first Sunday in August, with Bara and Coja having to be held in the same month. We removed all doubts about the maintenance of this year’s Alka, which was especially at the peak of the coronavirus epidemic, when the cancellation of various events began, so we worked out different scenarios for maintaining the continuity of our knightly game,” says Dr. Jukić.
Preparations for Alka candidates and flag bearers in the Alka procession usually begin in the second half of May. Have they started yet?
“It is true that the coronavirus pandemic affected the usual movement of things. All Alkar candidates, or at least most, practice riding regularly throughout the year. So it was at the height of the pandemic. Alkars would announce themselves, come to the barn, saddle a horse that is, conditionally speaking, “theirs”, and go individually or in a group to ride at the hippodrome, on the nearby Piket or through Sinjsko polje. Every Alkar who truly lives for the Alka trains regularly, as far as his work commitments allow.
Therefore, this year’s delay in the start of joint preparations will not affect the training of the Alkars and their horses. That the shortened preparations do not mean an omission, we were convinced during the Ceremonial Sinjska Alka in Vukovar, for which the Alkars prepared for about twenty days, and which, according to the general assessment, was superbly performed in every respect.”
When will the candidates gather for the 305th Sinjska Alka?
“Over the next few days, I will hold talks with the Duke of Alkar, Boško Ramljak, and Ivica Filipović Grčić, and then I will convene a session of the Board of Directors of VAD. The first gathering and the start of joint preparations for the Alkar candidates will begin next week.”
During the prescribed epidemiological measures, most of the VAD’s activities were dormant?
“The Board of Directors did not meet physically for almost two months, but we were in contact almost daily by phone or e-mail, we held telephone sessions and made the necessary decisions. The Sinjska Alka Museum was closed to visitors because visitors could not be expected due to the movement ban. In our Alka stables, activity took place every day because the horses have to eat, drink, be cleaned, new hay has to be put in… We managed to renew some of the horse equipment. During this time, we acquired a dozen new saddles and harness parts. Our phones rang daily. We were called by friends from all parts of Croatia who inquired about holding this year’s Alka. Among them was a large number of our sponsors and donors who have already introduced the practice of bringing their business partners from the country and the world to the final Alka festival. We told everyone that we would strive to maintain the Alka under any circumstances, expressing hope that the pandemic would pass and that we would maintain the Alka in the usual atmosphere, with heightened precautions.”
In the peak of the pandemic, were different variants of maintaining the Alka worked out just to maintain the continuity of tradition?
“The worst and only inadmissible would be no Alka. We peeked into the Alka’s history and found that the Alka was properly maintained even at the time of the Spanish flu pandemic. That is why we were united in the decision that the Alka must be maintained. At the same time, we knew that if the spread of coronavirus was not curbed, we would have to impose restrictions on performance. So we considered holding the Alka without an audience, raising tribunes only for the Court of Honor and the Duke, but not for spectators, and we also considered reducing the number of participants in the Alka procession to the statutory minimum of eleven spearmen. We worked out all these variants without compromising the ceremony and performance that make the Alka. Thank God, as things stand now, all those variants have gone away and we are preparing to maintain the Alka as usual.”
Will there be a full crowd?
“Of course. We will still have contacts with the Civil Protection Headquarters, both local and national. If the pandemic continues to end in our area, Croatia and Europe, there will be no reason not to hold this year’s Alka festival in its entirety, which means that the Alkars and Alkar boys will hold another commemorative event in front of a crowded audience and crowded streets of our city.”
When, in that case, can we expect ticket sales for this year’s Sinjska Alka?
“Along the dirt track of the Alkar racetrack, the assembly of grandstands for the auditorium with a capacity of 5,000 seats will begin in July. When epidemiologists definitely confirm to us that we can prepare for the maintenance of the Alka under normal conditions, we will announce ticket sales. We will put about 3500 of them on sale because we have to set aside about 1500 tickets for our sponsors, donors and guests. Last year, we sold tickets online for the first time and had a positive experience. Therefore, we will apply this practice this year as well. This year’s Alka should be held in a calmer political atmosphere, as presidential elections were held at the end of last year, and parliamentary elections will be held in July.”
For years, the most prominent state officials have appeared at the Alka. Are you expecting them on August 9 for the 305th edition?
“It is already a tradition for the Alka to be held under the auspices of the head of state. In this context, we asked the newly elected President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, to be the patron of the 305th Sinjska Alka, which he gladly accepted. The delegation of the Alka administration invited President Milanović to personally attend this year’s Alka and we received a promise that he would come.
Of course, we also invited the Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the President of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković, as well as numerous other high-ranking guests and guests from the political, public, cultural and economic life of Croatia.
The July elections will play the most crucial role in the composition of this year’s guests. Regardless of everything, we will be happy to host them all on Alka Day, because we receive all well-wishers at the Alka Feast with an open heart.”
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