Treat yourself to Advent in Zagreb

This year’s Advent festivities will take place at many venues in Zagreb’s Lower and Upper Towns. The number of events, more than ever before, will provide entertainment for all generations. During the month of December, the whole city of Zagreb will be one big stage.

Advent in Zagreb is on. This year it will be marked by a host of new events, more numerous than ever before, which will take place in the squares and streets of the Lower and Upper Towns. There will be something for everybody: entertainment for families with children and for groups of friends. Everybody can look forward to new and interesting events, all in the spirit of Advent in Zagreb, the time when the city exudes a very special holiday atmosphere. Traditional festivities leading up to Christmas started with an exciting cultural and entertainment programme which included the lighting of the first Advent candle on 25th November in the main city square. This will also be the venue of various daily events – programmes by children’s choirs, girls only choirs, mixed and gospel choirs, tamburitza orchestras and other types of concerts and the like.

However, this is just the beginning, because as of this year there will be a new addition to the overall extravaganza: Advent in Zrinjevac, the most beautiful city park, whereas a multimedia 3D Mapping projection to celebrate Advent will take place in front of the Mimara Museum on 2nd December. It will start at 8 P.M. and it will certainly take your breath away. You can look forward to a unique virtual show which will take place on the facade of the Mimara Museum with the support of state-of-the-art technology. After the virtual fairytale is over, all you have to do is let your hair down and enjoy the rhythms of beautiful music with a hot drink in hand before you embark on a free visit of the museum. 

The launch of Advent in Zrinjevac has been scheduled for 6 P.M. on 3rd December. The sounds of music will resound every day from the stage of the old Musical Pavilion which was erected in the park back in 1891.

There will be dancing in the open air in Zrinjevac during the period leading up to Christmas, with a well thought out musical programme befitting the most beautiful park in Zagreb, only a stone’s throw from the main city square. To complement the entertainment programmes that await you there, you can also look forward to sampling some of the old and almost forgotten culinary delights typical of Zagreb: pasta with cabbage or baked strukli. There will be hot chocolate and mulled wine to keep your hands warm and a Christmas market with gifts for your dearest, as well as Christmas decorations. Besides in Zrinjevac, festivities will also be organized in Britanski Trg (British Square) with daily concerts, various cultural and culinary programmes, interesting presentations, as well as a New Year’s party featuring a band from Split, TBF.  

Besides the new programme at Britanac, which is the square’s pet name, Advent festivities have also been launched at Trg Žrtava Fašizma, as well as in the most colourful street with the most amazing selection of restaurants and bars – Tkalčićeva, located in an exclusively pedestrian zone. From 27th November to 31st December, the street will be reserved for the so-called Advent Tkalčijana featuring excellent street musicians and singers. On Thursdays and Fridays between 5 P.M. and 7.30 P.M. and on Saturdays between 11 A.M. and 1.30 P.M. they will sing Christmas carols, chansons typical of Zagreb, old urban hits and love songs, as well as international evergreens… at different locations along Tkalčićeva Street. 

A new winter pop culture festival under the name Gričevanje will be launched at Grič on 9th December and it will continue up until New Year. 

During the three weeks of festivities, the Upper Town will be marked by the old legends of Grič witches. Exactly 100 years ago the best known and the first Croatian female author, Marija Jurić Zagorka, depicted them in her famous novel “The Witch of Grič”. All those legends are expected to attract numerous citizens of Zagreb to the Upper Town where they will be warmed up by music, performances, masked entertainment and hellishly good parties which will take place in tents as well as outdoors.   

The traditional New Year’s party in the main city square will feature the legendary New Gypsies – the former Gipsy Kings. Fun will continue on the first day of the New Year with a rerun of the New Year’s party in Zrinjevac. Another part of the tradition is a gala New Year’s Folklore Evening for international guests on 1st January, hosted by the City Tourist Board at the City Theatre Komedija. On the same day there will be a special changing of the guards of the ceremonial Kravat Regiment. They will walk along the city streets on the first day of the New Year to delight the citizens of Zagreb and to satisfy the interests of Zagreb’s guests. They will present the military skills of the 17th century Croatian light cavalry regiment. Apart from the courage of its soldiers, the regiment was also known for its uniforms, i.e. the colourful kerchiefs that the soldiers used to tie around their necks, thus providing the male fashion accessory with its present-day name.  

This is not the end of the story of all the events tied to the end-of-the-year holidays, because there are too many of them to mention. That is why you should treat yourself to Advent in Zagreb, and enjoy it together with us. 

To find out more about Advent in Zagreb events, log onto our website at  www.adventzagreb.hr.