A fortnight of culture is about to begin with the opening of the 48th Varazdin Baroque Evenings on September 21, 2018, but the festival is about much more than music.
The second half of September is one of the best times to visit Varazdin County, for there is an array of late-season cultural events to enjoy which pay tribute to the rich heritage of the region’s past. Last weekend saw the annual Lepoglava Lace Festival, one of three locations in Croatia, whose lace has been inscribed as intangible UNESCO heritage, and food lovers will be heading to the village of Vidovec this weekend, where Varazdin’s celebrated indigenous cabbage will once more be used (an impressive 22,000 leaves) as just one ingredient in the world’s longest sarma. The much-loved stuffed meat dish last year once more broke the record with an astonishing length of 1.32km.
But the main cultural event this time of year is the Varazdin Baroque Evenings, an idea conceived 50 years ago to celebrate the 140th year of the Varazdin Music School, and one of Croatia’s most important classical music festivals, now in its 48th year. As has become the tradition, each year the festival takes on a partner country for all aspects of the festival. Last year it was Hungary, and this year Japan. The festival obviously celebrates music, but it is also about a strengthening of cultural ties, and the two-week festival showcases the beauty of its partner country in several other ways.
For the last 23 years, Varazdin Baroque Evenings has held a corresponding floral event to honour the partner country. The Varazdin International Flower Exhibition brings together national and international florists, whose skills and creativity combine to present the partner country to the public through flowers.
The exhibition takes place over a 4-day period at the beginning of the Baroque festival, and it is housed in and around the spectacular Varazdin Castle, the centrepiece of the stunning old town of this former capital city of Croatia.
This year’s display has some excellent floral arrangements, as well as a touch of Japanese serenity, against the magnificent backdrop of Varazdin Castle, well worth a stroll around this weekend.
And if you would like to combine your visit to the flower exhibition with some culture and food, why not partake of a piece of the world’s longest sarma at the Zeljarijada cabbage festival in Vidovec, just a few kilometres from Varazdin, before heading into town for one of the weekend performances at Varazdin Baroque Evenings? For more details on all happenings in Varazdin Country, check the regional tourist board website.
