18th Festival of Equal Opportunities: Three Days of Attractive Events

The 18th Festival of Equal Opportunities, an international manifestation, will take place in the centre of Zagreb from 21 to 23 May. With various events it promotes creativity and opportunities for persons with disability as equal members of society.

A traditional international celebration of urban culture, the 18^th Festival of Equal Opportunities, will take place in the Ban Josip Jelačić Square in Zagreb from 21 to 23 May. The program is performed by persons with disabilities joined by other visual artists, musicians and performers. This is an international festival with programs rich in musical, theatre, visual, recreational, educative and sports events. Also citizens are invited to test the limits of their own mobility at the training ground in a simulated environment.

This three-day street festival taking place from 10 to 22 h will be attended by more than 900 performers from Croatia and abroad, 600 of whom are persons with disabilities. The organising team consists of around twenty experts and 150 volunteers – students who are learning about disability and volunteering and gathering useful experience in team work and special communication techniques used with persons with various physical and sensory disability and cognitive impairment.

The festival sparks off a lot of interest among citizens every year so it is estimated that in three days the program is seen by around 15,000 visitors. The festival also led to the reputation Zagreb has in the large European family of healthy cities.

The organiser and creator of the festival is the Association of Physically Disabled in Zagreb and the project is supported by competent bodies of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Zagreb and Zagreb Tourist Board.