Bučko (Pumpkin) Express takes you to “Bučijada” (Pumpkin Festival)

If you are looking for ways to spend a pleasant autumn day in mid-October, we have a proposal for you: visit the attractive and tasty event called “Bučijada” in Ivanić Grad. You do not even have to have your own means of transport: a special tourist train, the Bučko Express, will take you there from Zagreb. (more…)

Ivanić Grad is a little town in the County of Zagreb, located some 20 kilometres away from the city of Zagreb itself. For the seventh consecutive year, the town will be hosting an attractive two-day event dedicated to pumpkins. The Ivanić Grad “Bučijada” will take place on the 15th and 16th October; as in previous years, it will showcase produce by numerous farmers and craftsmen from the entire region including Croatia, Austria, Slovenia, Serbia and other neighbouring countries.

The focal point of this event will be a large pumpkin exhibition and trade market where visitors will be able to buy pumpkin-based foods and many other similar products. Tourists attending Bučijada can look forward to two fun-packed days full of pleasant surprises for all generations. The organizer has prepared a selection of entertainment and educational children’s programmes all related to pumpkins; there will be appealing pumpkin competitions, picture-book and book presentations as well as ceramics and pottery workshops (the Raku technique), amongst other things. A programme called “In Our Ancestors' Homes” will be held next to the Ivanić Grad market and it will present traditional rural customs such as weaving, corn husking and feather cleaning. On the second day of the event, tourists will have an opportunity to see live demonstrations of rural children's games as part of a programme called “This is how we used to play”. This event also has an educational element as all who wish to learn more will have an opportunity to attend a conference on pumpkin oil and health, while listening to experts and scientists discussing the subject. Later, they will be able to take a stroll down the approximately 2.5 km long educational path “Flora and Fauna of Žutica Forest”.

Quite aptly for this type of event, there will be many contests and competitions: those for the best savoury pumpkin dish, the best pumpkin desert, as well as the smallest, biggest and most original-looking pumpkins, the best dressed stand... Visitors will also be able to learn more about different pumpkin varieties in the Pumpkin Museum. If all that is not enough, other attractions await those seeking even more fun and entertainment: a ride on the traditional Pumpkin Carriage or an old-timer motorcycle; a visit to the exhibition of stray dogs, organized under the title “The Written-Off Return”; an exhibition of national costumes and costume jewellery of Moslavina; or the Pumpkintown exhibition. Furthermore, the “Cinderella Ball” will be organized for all those who plan to stay for the evening, while those who wish to leave earlier will be able to do so via the

Bučko Express. The tourist train will depart from Zagreb at 9:45 A.M. and return at 4:10 P.M.

The organizer of this interesting and appealing event, which has been ever increasing in popularity, is the town of Ivanić Grad, in cooperation with the Tourist Board of Ivanić Grad and the Croatian Association of Pumpkin Oil Producers.