An innovative tourism promotion from Varazdin County in one of Croatia’s most versatile locations, as Croatian naive art is celebrated in hot air ballooning style in Pula on June 22, 2019.
A rather unusual sight for Pula residents and tourists a few years ago, as the Pula Arena, the 6th largest Roman amphitheatre in the world, welcomed yet one more innovative tourism project.
The Arena, which has already hosted an ice hockey tournament, various concerts from the biggest name in music, and soon a match between legends of Croatia and Bayern Munich, welcomed an altogether different event a few days ago, as Varazdin County arrived in Istria to present its tourism offer to the people and tourism of Istria.
Varazdin food and wine specialities were accompanied by traditional music and dance, and the entire event was protected by the UNESCO-protected Purgeri soldiers of the Varazdin Guard, but by far the star attraction was the hot air balloon, which took centre stage.
Hot air ballooning is popular in the Zagorje region, and there is an annual Ballooning Rally, which takes place in April. The balloon which starred in Pula showcased one of the most famous works of one of Varazdin County’s most famous cultural icons – The Flower Celebrates by Ivan Rubazin of Novi Marof, one of the stars of the Croatian naive art scene.
There is a wonderful video of the event, which can only be viewed via this link, as well as a short video report by HRT. For more information on the event, the Varazdin County Tourist Board has issued a press release, which you can read here.
To learn more about the amazing events held at Pula Arena, check out the dedicated TCN page, and to follow the latest news from Varazdin County, TCN’s coverage of Varazdin can be found here.
