Yesterday, Saturday, 26 August 2023, the 27th Days of Poetry and Wine festival ended. The six-day festival, at which 18 poetic guests from 10 countries presented themselves at as many as 60 diverse cultural events, 3 Grand Poetry Readings and numerous talks in the company of good wine and musical events attracted as many as 6,000 visitors to Ptuj and other places in Slovenia and across the border.
We concluded the event at Vrazov Square in Ptuj with the third Grand Poetry Reading by visiting poets - Dominican poet Frank Báez, Spanish poet and curator of this year's festival Yolanda Castaño, Slovenian poet Miriam Drev, Czech poet Maria Iljašenko and guest of honor and author of the Open Letter to Europe 2023, David Harsent. This year, the festival took place under the direction of the new program director of the festival, Kristina Kočan, and the executive producer of the festival, Taja Islamovič, who thanked the poetry guests as well as the entire team of participants for the reading.
"During the festival, the city of Ptuj breathes together, people open their homes, their yards, host poets and various events. You can feel the poetry at every step and try some good Slovenian wine," said Kristina Kočan, the festival's program director, emphasizing the wonderful coexistence of the festival with the city's residents.
The speeches was followed by a concert by the band Čompe and a Five to Midnight sound installation, which interwoven the selected poetry of this year's festival guests with electronic music. The evening was also served with quality wines, which were available at the Wine Altar.
We started the day in Ptuj with a screening of short animated films, during which children could learn about various aspects of sustainable development and nature protection in a humorous and playful way. In the morning, also in Ptuj, the second part of the Kilometer of Poetry event took place, which we called The Poet's Walk, and in the evening Soare with a wine cocktail in the Old Glassware Workshop, an elegant event that combined the art of mixology with the sophistication of wine.
In Maribor, more precisely in the Vinag Wine Cellar, Slovenian poet Denis Škofič and Albanian poet Luljeta Lleshanaku spoke about the art of poetry without a moderator. In addition to Ptuj and Maribor, the festival also took place in Križevci near Ljutomer yesterday.
You are invited to experience the impressions from the events by viewing the photos in the gallery
