At Least Half a Million Visitors Expected at Lent Festival

Maribor, 22 June

The 13th Lent Festival, Slovenia's biggest summer festival, kicked off on Friday evening. In sixteen days, over 400 events are to be held in the old city centre of Maribor. The organisers expect at least half a million visitors from Slovenia and abroad.

Lent 2005 is to feature over 2,500 performers entertaining guests at over 20 venues along the Drava river. The events include concerts, opera and theatre as well as other cultural events.
The main stage of the festival is to showcase concerts by Nigeria's Femi Anikulapo Kuti, Lebanese artist Tony Hanna and others. Meanwhile, the jazz section is to feature Slovenian artists exclusively, while the Jurcek stage is dedicated to Slovenian acoustic musicians.
Furthermore, the programme at the Vecer stage features performances by British singer Wunmi and Serbian band Partibrejkers, while the Judgment Tower venue is reserved for chanson performers, jazz and world music.
Street theatre shows are to be acted out in the city by Slovenian as well as foreign artists. Several events are encompassed also in the folk dance section called Folkart, the Lent Sports section and the children's programme.
The organiser of the festival, Narodni dom Maribor, had planned to sign sponsorship contracts with 115 sponsors, its director Vladimir Rukavina explained. On Tuesday, over 30 contracts were signed with several prominent Slovenian companies and organisations.
Along with the contribution by the biggest sponsor, Nova kreditna banka Maribor, this almost covers the expenses, which are expected to amount to EUR 1.6m. The rest is to be covered by the sale of festival passes, which are to be sold at 3,500 SIT (EUR 14.6).
This year's anticipated number of visitors and events place the Lent Festival among the biggest European festivals of its kind. So far, Lent has been conferred several awards, including 14 awards by the International Festival Association (IFEA).

At Least Half a Million Visitors Expected at Lent Festival

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