Festivals and cycles

THERE ARE SEVERAL PROGRAMME CYCLES AND FESTIVALS INCLUDED IN THE PROJECT IMAGO SLOVENIAE EVERY YEAR:

International music festival Summer Imago Sloveniae (since 1994)

The creation of the project was motivated by the desire to completely revitalize the cultural image of Slovene old town centres, squares, religious buildings, castles, museums, and other architectural heritage with live cultural events. Each summer, the project brings together 25 Slovene municipalities and towns which organize, under the IMAGO SLOVENIAE trademark, more than 50 concerts by prominent Slovene and foreign musicians and other events. The summer cultural offerings in Slovenia, which already included several summer festivals in Slovene towns, have thus been enriched by concerts linked to places and buildings of cultural heritage. As it turned out, the revival of cultural heritage places with high quality events contributes immensely to the overall economic, tourism and cultural development of towns and regions. Local organizers assist in the organization of concerts which take place from mid-June to mid-September.
The main goal of the project is to bring top-notch cultural events to small towns, promote serious musical genres, artists, and performers, and to support intercultural dialogue and access to cultural goods. Therefore, the concerts are free of charge.
The programme concept is based on classical music from different periods, composed for various instrumentations, including symphonic orchestras. Imago Sloveniae is a renowned trademark which guarantees high quality events. Therefore, our concerts attract many visitors and receive wide media coverage. Each year, 4 concerts are recorded by the Slovene National Television and 5 by the Slovene National Radio.

Summer in Ljubljana Old Town (since 1986)

The international festival plays an important role in reviving the old town centre and supporting Ljubljana’s cultural development. The concerts take place at the most beautiful places of architectural heritage (town squares and atriums, the Castle, the City Hall, the Great Hall of the Slovene Philharmonic, museums and churches). Each year from mid-June to the end of August, Ljubljana hosts over 25 concerts by the most prominent Slovene artists and top notch foreign performers. The programme is based on classical music from different periods, including 6 to 8 jazz concerts. The festival’s trademark are international ensembles, consisting of musicians from different countries, and open air concerts by symphonic orchestras, which are held at different town squares, attracting several thousand visitors.

Nights in Ljubljana Old Town (since 1988)

The broad scope and the large number of artists and visitors make the international festival Nights in Ljubljana Old Town, traditionally taking place in the last week of August, one of the biggest cultural events in Slovenia. The concerts are held at 10 different, mostly open-air locations in the old city centre, each of them having a clearly defined programme concept (e.g. the stage in front of the City Hall – large ensembles, orchestras and big bands; Gornji trg – avant-garde jazz, etc.) The concept of the festival is based on serious and underrepresented music genres, such as jazz, ethno music, and classical music, and offers an overview of contemporary musical creativity and interpretation in these genres. The programme features top level Slovene artists and quality foreign performers (each year from more than 10 countries). The focus of the festival is young artists and contemporary music production. The festival traditionally attracts large audiences – each year more than 50,000 visitors from Slovenia and abroad attend the festival in 4 days. The project also includes literary events, art exhibitions, dance performances, and different art workshops and round tables.