On September 17 and 18, 2021, the traditional Culture Week festival came to life again (after a lull in the pandemic). The organizer of the event was the Association for the Development of Voluntary Work Novo mesto.
On Friday, September 17, members of the Association of Slovenians of the Republika Srpska Triglav Banja Luka, as partners and together with numerous representatives from abroad, participated in the international conference "Europe is our home".
President of DRPDNM Branka Bukovec, Klemen Grošelj, PhD, and Saša Tomažić welcomed the attendees. This was followed by a film presentation of relations in Slovenia, introduction to the new integration system, good relations with local authorities, etc. Presentations and discussions of the participants followed. After five hours of talk, the DRPDNM organizer invited everyone present to the Culinary House for a gala lunch.
The extensive program prepared by the organizer for the Culture Week had to be adapted to the weather conditions. PARTY OF ALL CULTURES was held on Friday afternoon and Saturday. The presentation of the traditional fair (party) was planned on the main square in Novo mesto. Instead of an open space, the organizer managed to convey and show everything that was previously planned in the Qlandija shopping center. The pulse of 20 different cultures from all over the world was seen and experienced here. There were culinary stands, presentations of various dances, songs, etc.
The rainy day on Friday passed, and the beginning of Saturday did not promise a change of weather but the wind and the sun drove away the clouds. This time, stands of various delicacies were set up in the central part of the town square, we walked around the old part of the town without umbrellas and enjoyed the performance of the youngest. The special feature of this event was the offer of the Living Library in the atrium of the Culinary House. Therein, visitors could borrow interlocutors with (unusual) destinies instead of books for a 20-minute chat. Among the "books" were people with war experience, vegetarianism fans, a refugee from Afghanistan, a Roma woman, a Venezuelan Slovenian, etc.
This time the Culture Week was different. It was sophisticated, educated, fun, commendable!
Nataša Kajmaković
Translation Ana Marjanović