Yesterday, Thursday, 24 August, we officially opened the 27th Days of Poetry and Wine festival with the premiere public reading of the Open Letter to Europe at Vrazov Square in Ptuj. The now traditional Open Letter was read by the author of the letter, British poet David Harsent, who joined us via video link due to his recovery from surgery. The opening was followed by a Grand Poetry Reading by visiting poets and poets - the Spanish poet María Eloy-García, the Czech poet Ondřej Lipár, the Slovenian poet Denis Škofič and the honored guests of the festival, the Swiss poet Ilma Rakusa. The evening in Ptuj ended with the rhythms of the Batista Cadillac band and a concert of music poetry by Aurélie Maurin.
Throughout the day, numerous poetry readings and discussions with festival guests took place in Ptuj, Dornava, Juršinci, Murska Sobota and Varaždin in Croatia, including the round table Perspective at the Intersection of Poetry, where Czech and Slovenian poets talked about their experiences and raised questions about the situation of contemporary poetry in their country.
Lovers of good wine spoiled their taste buds yesterday at the jubilee 90th WIcked Tasting!, which took place in the tunnels under Ptuj Castle. The guests of the event were the Albanian poet Luljeta Lleshanaku and Petra Rutar, the president of the Women and Wine (Ženske in vino) association, which strives for a more important and visible role of women in the wine world. Like every festival evening, yesterday as well selected Slovenian winemakers offered their selected wines at the Wine Altar. This year, Czech poetry is at the forefront of the festival, which is why the Czech R. Schmied - Great Wine joined the Slovenian wines.
You are invited to experience the impressions from the events by viewing the photos in the gallery, below you can also watch a recording of the first public reading of this year's Open Letter to Europe.
