Maribor 2012 - European capital of culture

HIGHLIGHTS OF MARIBOR 2012 – European Capital of Culture

European Capital of Culture offers a vast variety of outstanding events - from theatre, music, fine arts, photography, film, and audio-visual art to children and youth creative workshops.

We've already seen an opening weekend with twelve unique events prepared by more than two hundred artists, the main event of the ceremonial opening, which was a highlight by itself, opera Black Masks that filled Slovenian National Theatre to the very last seat, Ptuj Kurent Carnival with over 110.000 spectators, theatre play War and Peace by a Maribor-born and worldly renown director Tomaž  Pandur, Festival of Music, Wine, and Fashion with a concert by Kings of Strings,  the Zagreb Philharmonics and Ivo Pogorelić, who is worldly renowned for his extraordinarily technically superior and daring interpretations,  and nonetheless a concert 2CELLOS, which was their first concert in Slovenia after coming from a tour with Elton John.

Summer days will bring Chouf Ouchouf, an acrobatic theatre play by Martin Zimmermann and Dimitri de Perrot, Festival Lent, one of the greatest festivals of its kind in Europe will offer over four hundred events, Rock Otočec, one of the biggest rock events in Slovenia with over forty concerts, The Man With Bombs, rock opera première, which includes artists such as Laibach, Siddharta, Symphonic Orchestra, and many more.

We must not forget Arsana Music Festival that will host Perpetuum Jazzile, which gained fame in Slovenia and abroad, Jazzinty Festival that will include many international musicians, and the Days of Poetry and Wine, where twenty-five poets from different countries will present their work.

Autumn is the time for Maribor Festival, which is one of the finest musical festivals in Slovenia, a performance of Japanese legendary Butoh dance Tobari (Sankai Juku), and An Invisible Circus - Victoria Chaplin and Jean-Baptist Thiérrée, who have been entertaining the crowds all over the world for over forty years now.

Events under the European Capital of Culture attracted 116.674 visitors in first two months. Maribor has climbed unto an elite list of "top destinations" of the world (Lonely Planet, Web Agency AOL, In Your Pocket). The world's most trusted web travel advisor TripAdvisor stated that interest for Maribor has risen for over 500 per cent. The actual percentage of tourists in Maribor has also climbed from last year - for over 40 per cent in the first two months, based on the data gathered by Maribor Tourist Board.