The 27th Days of Poetry and Wine festival begins on Monday

On 17 August, MuziKafe in Ptuj hosted a press conference where the 27th Days of Poetry and Wine festival was presented. The festival will once again bring forward renowned poets from all over the world and selected winemakers. Events will be taking place in Ptuj as well as sixteen other cities in Slovenia and across the border starting on Monday, 21 August, and finishing on Saturday, 26 August. The program of the festival, which is organized by the publishing house Beletrina, and the guest writers - 18 poets from 10 countries - were presented by Kristina Kočan, the program director of the festival, Taja Islamovič, the executive producer of the festival, and Petra Kolmančič, the guest of the festival event and the coordinator and organizer of cultural programs of MKC Maribor.

From left to right: Petra Kolmančič, Kristina Kočan in Taja Islamovič.
Photo: Črtomir Goznik

In her opening address, Kristina Kočan introduced the central guests of the festival - the Swiss poet Ilma Rakusa, the Lithuanian poet Eugenijus Ališanka and the author of the Open Letter to Europe, poet David Harsent. This time, too, we are continuing the tradition of the Open Letter, with which, for the seventh year in a row, the selected top poet addresses Europe and highlights the most pressing problems in their opinion. This year's open letter will be heard at the official opening of the festival on Thursday, 24 August, at 8:30 p.m. in Vrazov Square in Ptuj.

The executive producer of the festival, Taja Islamovič, said that during the festival Ptuj will transform into the capital of poetry. There will be more than 60 events for all ages and interest groups with contemporary Czech poetry as the center of attention. Many events will also be hosted by other cities, such as Ljubljana, Krško, Ormož, Ljutomer, Petanjci, and Dornava, as well as Potrna in Austria and Varaždin in Croatia.

The festival will be devoted to the wine culture with the same zeal as it will be honoring the poetry. The Wine Altar, which will be opened by Ptuj's wine queen Lucija Kramer, will thus offer selected wines from excellent winemakers from the wine-growing region of Slovenian Styrian every evening in Vrazov Square in Ptuj. Wicked Tasting!, which combines a conversation with a winemaker, a wine tasting, and a poetry reading, will take place twice as part of the festival in Ptuj.

The traditional events, such as the evening Grand Poetry Readings, which will be coordinated by the Slovenian film actor Jurij Drevenšek, is being upgraded with the varied program - a Wine Cocktail Soiree in the Old Glassware Workshop and with Poetry on a Platter, an exclusive dinner at Ptuj Castle.

The program novelties are Kilometer of Poetry, a set of two events where we will venture into the world of poetry while walking around the city and in nature. This year, for the first time, the organizers also presented the festival wine, dry chardonnay vintage 2022 from the Vinag 1847 winery, disguised in a festival image.

Petra Kolmančič concluded, presenting in more detail the Conversation on Poetry Film, which will take place on Wednesday, 23 August, at the City Cinema in Ptuj. "This year we are presenting the Videopoetry section, which is a hybrid artistic genre that combines poetry and media content, and everything is enhanced with other media, such as sound and music. The resulting video works are not only an illustration of poetry, but all media involved create a new language, due to which we can count on a special artistic impression."