July 14, 2008

One of the largest cultural festival of the kind in Europe - the LENT festival took place in Maribor from June 27 to July 12, 2008.

This year's Lent is the sixteenth in a row, and it attracted a lot of visitors, especially because of its top-quality program. A variety of more than 400 performances and half a million of visitors make Festival Lent one of the biggest festivals in Europe, moreover it is also known across the pond in America. This multicultural festival that has its origin in the folklore festival Folkart has received several awards, among them 32 awards from The International Festival and Events Association (IFEA). Festival Lent is ranking among the Top 50 of Europe's Best Local Festivities.

Visitors experienced a variety of concerts of classical, jazz, popular and ethno music, evenings with singers-songwriters, chanson evenings, theatre and dance performances, drama and puppet theatres, creative workshops for children, sport performances and much more. The International Folklore Festival Folkart, the Festival Jazzlent and the Street Theatre Festival also took place within Festival Lent.

To date, many internationally acknowledged musicians have performed at Festival Lent, particularly at Jazzlent. Along the banks of the river Drava, stars such as Ray Charles, B. B. King, James Brown, Jose Feliciano, Lester Bowie, Stephane Grappelli, Tania Maria, Les McCann, Jimmy Whitterspoon, Maynard Ferguson Big Band, Paquito D’Rivera, Howard Johnson & Gravity, Dr. John, B. Golson, Chicco Freeman, Vocal Sampling, Reggie Workman, Chucho Valdes, Brad Mehldau, Monty Alexander, Ray Brown, Alfredo De La Fé, Bela Fleck, Alvin Queen, Dr. Didge, Esbjörn Svensson, Alfredo Rodrigues, Matt Darriau, Taj Mahal, Malia, Mercedes Sosa, Olodum, Eric Burdon & The Animals, David Byrn, Reggie Johnson, Femi Anikulapo Kuti and many others have attracted numerous visitors. Moreover, every year honoured guests at the festival also include many acknowledged Slovene artists.

The International Folklore Festival “Folkart” is characterised by its quality and the variety of folklore groups from Slovenia and abroad. Some top street theatre groups from all around the world, and from Slovenia, visit Maribor every year thanks to the Street theatre Festival.

At the Lent Festival, the Winter Universiade Maribor 2013 was also promoted.

More info: http://lent.slovenija.net