Dubrovnik Events, Things to Do and Festivals 2014 / 2015

(Dubrovnik, Southern Dalmatia, Croatia)

The list of religious, national and traditional festivals in Croatia is amazingly long, with a focus on cultural events across the country. The arts, all types of music, theatre and every aspect of film are celebrated in Dubrovnik with week-long or even longer events, drawing people from all over.

Religious festivals are much enjoyed in this Catholic country, with costumed and masked street parades, street theatre and street parties all favourites in Dubrovnik. National days in Croatia celebrate the country's hard-won independence and its recovery from the violence following the break up of Yugoslavia.


The Dubrovnik Summer Festival each July is one of the biggest things to do each year in the city and was first held in 1950, taking place every single year since. Drawing over 2,000 artists from various countries, the Summer Fest features a huge array of open-air gigs and theatrical performances over a five-week period.

Dubrovnik Calendar of Festivals and Events 2014 / 2015

January

• New Year's Day (Nova Godina) - January 1st, a national holiday throughout Croatia, with celebrations beginning the night before, on New Year's Eve, when the Stradun and the entire Old Town is transformed into a huge street party. This city is one of the best places anywhere to ring in the New Year together with celebrities, musicians, street entertainers, delicious fritters, carob almonds, dried figs and all the other traditional New Year treats - plus, of course, lashings of champagne and midnight fireworks
• Epiphany (Bogojavljenje) - January 6th, a religious holiday, with services held at churches throughout the city

February

• Feast of St. Blaise - February 3rd, a major celebration and religious parade here as Blaise is the city's patron saint. Villagers in national costume arrive from outside the city to perform their traditional folk dances, and in the preceding week many concerts and other festivities break out all over the city

March

• Carnival (Karneval) - preparations kick in as soon as the Feast of St. Blaise shuts down and come to a head three days before Ash Wednesday (exact dates each year depend on the Christian calendar), with masked and costumed revellers prowling the streets dancing, singing and generally having a great time. Again, the Stradun is the place to go, although masked balls do take place in private homes

April

• Gastronomy Festival (Gastronomija) - all about agriculture, food and drink. Wine, viniculture, hunting, fishing, homes and gardens - several festivals all rolled into one and running from April 17th to 21st

May

• International Workers' Day (Medunarodni Praznik Rada) - May 1st, a national holiday often referred to as Labour Day
• Dubrovnik International Film Festival - begins when the Cannes version ends and runs for four days, with showings of domestic and foreign films, along with awards for the best. Dates vary according to the date of the more famous Cannes event

June

• Corpus Christi (Tijelovo) - early / mid-June, a national holiday staged some 60 days after Easter
• Anti-Fascist Struggle Day - June 22nd, remembering this day in 1941, which marked the uprising of local antifascist partisans against the Italians and Germans
• Croatian National Day / Statehood Day (Dan Drzavnosti) - falling on June 25th, a public holiday celebrated all over the country in honour of the day the Croatian parliament unanimously voted for the independence of their country
• Libertas Film Festival - late June to early July, lasting around a week, with a number of outdoor screenings at various locations. This film fest was first held in 2004 and has grown in popularity ever since

July

• Dubrovnik Summer Festival (Dubrovackim Ljetnim Igrama) - beginning in July and continuing into August, with musicals, classical concerts and performance events going on almost every night around town in theatres and historic buildings, in the streets and parks, on the beaches, and in restaurants and eateries. The highlight is the annual production of a Shakespeare play, performed at the atmospheric outdoor theatre in the courtyard of Fort Lovrijenac

August

• Homeland Thanksgiving Day (Dan Domovinske Zahvalnosti) - August 5th, a memorial day remembering the Croatian War of Independence (1991 to 1995)
• Assumption of Mary (Velika Gospa) - August 15th, a religious holiday, with masses at local places of worship
• Rabac Summer Festival - including opera, ballet, international music and drama, classical concerts and orchestral evenings, all set in breathtaking venues such as an old Roman arena and a beautiful offshore island

September

• International Festival of New Film - kicking off in Split with the showcasing of new and innovative multimedia and film productions, aimed at both professionals and aficionados. Entries are from outside the mainstream, while the event runs from September 15th to 21st

October

• Independence Day (Dan Neovisnosti) - celebrated on October 8th all over Croatia as a national holiday with parades and thanksgiving

November

• All Saints' Day (Dan Svih Svetih) - November 1st, a prominent religious festival in Catholic Croatia, with the laying of wreaths and the lighting of candles in honour of the dead

December

• Dubrovnik New Year's Regatta - kicking off on December 28th and ending on January 2nd, with the awarding of the Sterling cup to the winner of the Olympic Round-the-Cans course. Coastal round-the-island races also take place, with cruising holidays for prizes