At the opening ceremony, the president of the Croatian Reading Room Hercegovac, Zrinka Cjetojević, addressed the audience and emphasized the importance of the festival, which is held to preserve the Croatian language and cultural heritage, announcing the participation of four Croatian theater groups abroad — Croatian folk ensemble “Vladimir Nazor” from, Amateur Theater of the Croatian National Council of Montenegro, Croatian theater “Travnik” and the City Youth Theater “Vitez” from Bosnia and Herzegovina
The 27th Days of Croatian Folk Theater were officially opened on June 3 in Hercegovac. The organizer of this famous event is the Croatian Reading Room of Hercegovac, and the co-organizer is the Croatian Heritage Foundation.
As a reminder, prof. Stjepan Banas was the initiator and one of the founders of the Day of the Croatian Folk Theater in Hercegovac who initiated it with the support of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, led by the then director Ante Belja and editor Vesna Kukavica. Therefore, for 27 years, emigrant and homeland Croatia have been connected through theatrical expression, contributing to the full affirmation of Croatian cultural identity.
This year’s event was held under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, Bjelovar-Bilogora County and the Municipality of Hercegovac. At the opening ceremony, the president of the Croatian Reading Room of Hercegovac, Zrinka Cjetojević, addressed the audience and emphasized the importance of the festival, which is held to preserve the Croatian language and cultural heritage, announcing the participation of four Croatian theater groups abroad — Croatian folk ensemble “Vladimir Nazor” from Sombor (which performed the first day), Amateur Theater of the Croatian National Council of Montenegro, Croatian theater “Travnik” and the City Youth Theater “Vitez” (“Knight”) from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Mayor of Hercegovac Municipality, Boro Bašljan, welcomed all participants and on behalf of the co-organizers, Croatian Heritage Foundation, Snježana Jurišić, Head of the Department of Culture, greeted everyone on behalf of the Director Mijo Marić and spoke a bit about the role of CHF in preserving Croatian identity among Croats in minority communities and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The honor to open this international theater festival went to the Bjelovar-Bilogora County Prefect, Marko Marušić, and the Days of the Croatian Folk Theater began with the actors of the Croatian Reading Room of Hercegovac with the play “Treća tromjesečja” (“The Third Quarter”).
Text: Snježana Jurišić