(VOVworld) - Summer festivals are an indispensable part of many countries’ cultural and social life. The largest outdoor festival in Slovenia, the Lent Festival in Maribor, is a feast of folk and modern arts, cuisine, and sports. Today VOV talks to Eva Zvikart, a Slovenian expat in Hanoi who comes from Maribor, about the festival.

Q: Hello Eva! Can you briefly tell our listeners about the Lent Festival?

A: Lent festival is a cultural experience that joins different kinds of art. But it mostly focuses on different music genres and different music artists. It takes place in Maribor, Slovenia, the second biggest city. This is like a favorite time of the year in Maribor. It’s really the best. It lasts two weeks, [but] this year, from June 26 to July 2.

A performance on the floating stage on the river Drava. (Photo: maribor-pohorje.si )

Q: As far as I am concerned, there’s a lent festival for Christians, when they prepare for Easter. Is it similar to Slovenia’s Lent Festival?

A: “Lent” means “harbor” in German, because Maribor was a very important city between the North and the South of the river Drava in the past. That’s where the main harbor was. That’s where the name comes from and I don’t think it has anything to do with Christianity.

Q: How long has Lent festival been held and what are the main activities held during the festival?

A: As far as I know, now, Lent festival has been held for a little over 20 years. This is the 23^rd year. I’m not sure who started it. It’s all about culture and art. Everything connects to the arts. The main part of the festival is usually in the afternoons and evenings. The mornings are reserved for children’s activities and sports. In the big park in the North, we have workshops for the children. The whole park is dedicated to daytime activities and also you have food, drawing, making stuff, scientific experiments.  The peak of the festival is from 6 pm to midnight. That’s when the majority of events happen. Everybody comes out. The big part of the festival is still music, live shows, and live music. But yeah, one of the highlights is dance and the folklore. This is still the core, and, of course, the Jazz. That’s a big part as well. Maribor people love Jazz. There’s a special stage just for Jazz. The big artists, they have jam sessions there.

A jam session by Slovenian composer Vasko Atanasovski. (Photo: Channel Vasko Atanasovski)

Q: You mean that both folklore and modern art will be presented?

A: The point is, that is for everyone. Everyone can find something for themselves. They don’t need to go to a concert. You can just go and watch a show or you can go watch sports events in the morning or go to the park. I think this is the part where they try to attract all kinds of people, all kinds of age groups.

It’s energetic, happy people everywhere. It’s happening here and there, everybody walking around. Families are walking up and down, almost like a fashion show. The main stage is where the folklore and the big, important artists come, renowned names like Marcy Gray, for example. Then you have the street theater. They move around and they’re like acrobats with stuff on fire, walking on high ropes, face painting, and body painting.

Street art performance is an essential part of the Lent Festival. (Photo: questwe.com)

Q: Do artists from other countries participate in the festival?

A: They come from all continents but mostly from the EU. It’s different kinds of music actually. I think, on the folk art, on the folklore part, it’s from Argentina, Mongolia, and New Zealand, from the whole world. They come and represent their clothing, folk arts, their dance and their uniforms. I think that Slovenian national dance would be the most influenced by Germany, [particularly] the attire.

Q: I believe that Vietnamese artists will be more than happy to participate in the event.

A: I think they definitely could, maybe after this article they will, because this is the place where everybody can present their culture. But I think that it would be super cool if Vietnamese come, because you have your own culture, your own dresses. And that is the perfect place to present your culture. It’s really interesting to see all kinds [of culture] and learn how people in the world are. But if you want to participate, you should start contacting the Lent Festival people right after it finishes, at the end of July, or August, or September. It’s only two weeks a year, but it takes a year to prepare for the festival, because it’s so diverse. It’s so big and from everywhere.

Artists presenting a traditional dance as part of FolkArt performances. (Photo: festival-lent.si)

Q: Do you have any tips for visitors?

A: At first, go to Maribor [and] have fun there. Buy the ticket. You’ll get the booklet with discounts and guidance on what’s happening every day and in what part of the city. But for the bigger events, for important artists, you usually buy an extra ticket a few days in advance, but it’s no problem as the ticket’s very affordable.

Apart from staying in Maribor, you have a variety of accommodation, from hostels, the cheaper option for the students, to better, nice-looking B&B’s under the Pohorje, Maribor’s big hill. I would say that would be the best place to stay, really, because, it’s not in the city’s center, but it’s right out there in nature and you can do some other activities while you’re there.

(Background music: Vlatko Stefanovski's jam session, Lent Festival 2011)

Duc Hoan