First LADO festival to take place on 16-17 September 

The ‘LADO at Mažuranac’ festival will take place at Mažuranac Park in Zagreb on 16-17 September. 

This is the first festival project of the LADO ensemble, which aims to revitalise the area of Mažuranac Park through the cultural offer of the only professional folklore ensemble in Croatia, and to see off the summer with locals and visitors of Zagreb and welcome autumn outdoors.

The goal is to turn the festival into one of the important September events in the capital that will include other cultural and artistic institutions and individuals.

“Since its foundation, the LADO ensemble has been operating at the same address on Trg Republike Hrvatske 6a, and the hall where LADO’s professionals practice every day has windows looking out to LADO members favourite park – Mažuranac. That is why we decided to organise this event at this place. During the two days of the festival, LADO’s artists will introduce visitors to the long and fruitful work of this unique cultural institution through performances, workshops and presentations. Admission will be free and all epidemiological measures will be respected according to the instructions of the competent institutions,” said the director of the LADO ensemble Ileana Jurin Bakotić.

In the morning, all those interested will be able to apply for dance, traditional musical or handicraft workshops, and visit the holdings and folk costume workshop, and the afternoon and evening are reserved for documentary film screenings in the hall of the Academy of Dramatic Arts and open-air concerts which will be held on the stage at Mažuranc Park. In addition to the LADO concerts, the audience will be able to watch and hear the new project Ladarica and award-winning jazz player Borna Šercar, one of the most famous women’s klapas Cesarica and the band The Kazetofon, whose member is LADO soloist Mladen Kosovec.

Both days of the festival, the Ethnographic Museum will have open days when visitors will be able to see current exhibitions free of charge, and workshops will be organised for schoolchildren as well as guided tours through the exhibitions “Hats Down” and “Toys – Childhood Forever”.

(Photo: LADO)

It is worth mentioning a completely new project that will have its premiere at this festival, and which was designed by LADO’s dance leader Vlatka Hlišć and fitness trainer Tamara Despot “LADO Hop to the Top”. These are carefully designed exercises inspired by traditional dances and movements intended for recreational athletes who want to stay in shape. The music that will be used in this way of exercising is signed by the authors of the LADO Electro project Hrvoje Crnić Boxer and Boris Harfman.

All events that will take place in the official premises of the LADO ensemble and the Academy of Dramatic Arts will be attended by a limited number of visitors with mandatory compliance with all epidemiological measures and with mandatory prior registration at [email protected] or phone number 01 / 4828-472 no later than 14 September. Preliminary applications are also required for workshops that will take place in the Ethnographic Museum at [email protected].

All details about the festival events will soon be published on the official website www.lado.hr.

The project is supported by the Zagreb Tourist Board, and is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Zagreb.

It should be mentioned that in case of bad weather, the concerts scheduled for the Mažuranac Park will not be postponed, but will be moved to the hall of the LADO ensemble.