Petra Anić of Posušje in Bosnia-Herzegovina was voted most photogenic (votes cast via the FaceBook Internet portal), Annamarija Bunoza of Austria was the second runner up, the first runner up was Angela Miljak of South Africa, and the pageant winner was Ivana Glavić of Canada.
The Stećak association and the Croatian Heritage Foundation staged the 7th Traditional Folk Costume Review and Miss Croatian Folk Costume Pageant for Croatians Abroad. This year’s pageant was the first to be held in virtual form, with links to Trg gange (“Ganga Square”, which celebrates the indigenous ganga singing style) in Tomislavgrad featuring videos produced by the participants. The pageant was declared opened on behalf of the sponsor by Municipality of Tomislavgrad mayor Ivan Vukadin. Also calling in via a video link was special status advisor for issues concerning ethnic Croatians in neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina with the State Office for Croats Abroad Žana Ćorić.
Also calling in from the Croatian capital of Zagreb by video link on behalf of the co-organisers was Ivan Tepeš, the deputy director of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, who thanked everyone that had contributed to the staging of this event, important in the reinforcing of ties with communities and people of ethnic Croatian background around the world given the challenges we are all now facing.
We wish to extend our gratitude to all of the young women that have taken an active role in this programme, many of whom are active in culture and arts associations in their respective communities and whose participation has and will contribute to not only the preservation, but also the promotion of our cultural heritage around the world.
Twenty-three young women from fifteen countries on four continents presented the wealth of traditional Croatian handicraft. What unites them all are their ancestral Croatian roots and their love of our shared traditional culture. In this regard they are all very much “queens” of our folklore heritage and the traditional costumes they presented are part of our national wealth, woven into the fabric of our shared cultural identity.
Our congratulations go out to all these young women, and we extend particular praise to those who won the audience’s choice vote and the top votes of the panel of judges: Petra Anić of Posušje in Bosnia-Herzegovina for most photogenic (votes cast via the FaceBook Internet portal), Annamarija Bunoza of Austria as second runner up, first runner up Angela Miljak of South Africa, and the pageant winner Ivana Glavić of Canada.
Also taking part were: Jasna Frković (Argentina), Kristina Drvenkar (Australia), Adela Milić (Busovača, Bosnia-Herzegovina), Ružica Jokić (Brčko, Bosnia-Herzegovina), Kristina Božinović (Montenegro), Nevenka Kovačević (Alamos, Chile), Anamarija Došlić (Italy), Jessice Greco (Italy), Christina Grgić (Canada), Nikolett Gati (Hungary), Josipa Mrkonjić (Germany), Matea Varvodić (Germany), Ivana Ugrin (Norway), Olivia Panžić (New Zealand), Izabela Mihaela Banac (Romania), Ana Horvacki (Serbia), Dorijana Vučinac (Serbia) Ivana Špoljarić (Switzerland) and Lorna Cikoja (Switzerland).
By: Snježana Jurišić