''Vinkovačke jeseni'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Autumns of Vinkovci'') is a traditional

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surrounde ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. The festival was founded in 1966, and is considered one of the major cultural events of the whole of

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...

, together with '' Brodsko kolo'' and '' Đakovački vezovi''.

History

The first ''Vinkovačke jeseni'' were organised in September 1966. In the foreground of this festival is the care of folk dances, folk clothing and folk customs, so that traditional values from folk live of Slavonia would be kept alive. In late September 2017 the event was criticized by the individuals from the Serbian Cultural Society "Prosvjeta" for the two decades long exclusion of folk cultures coming from

ethnic minorities in Croatia The demographic characteristics of the population of Croatia are known through censuses, normally conducted in ten-year intervals and analysed by various statistical bureaus since the 1850s. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics has performed this t ...

, especially Serb minority that constitute 15,50% of the entire population of

Vukovar-Syrmia County Vukovar-Srijem County ( hr, Vukovarsko-srijemska županija), Vukovar-Sirmium County or Vukovar-Syrmia County, named after the eponymous town of Vukovar and the region of Syrmia, is the easternmost Croatian county. It includes the eastern parts of ...

. Svetislav Mikerević, President of local Prosvjeta branch in Bobota, stated in an interview that ''"We are as well citizens of Croatia. We are indeed minority, but culture is not supposed to divide people. It is supposed to connect people, and what we have is culture with borders. It would be natural if we were invited..."''

General

''Vinkovačke jeseni'' are held each year in the month of September, which is also the beginning of

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

, after which this festival got its name. The reason for establishment of this festival is that the autumn is the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

that awards the most to the People of Slavonia for their hard labor. This festival has soon started to bind all of those who are lovers of cultural heritage, dialects, and old customs. In the days of the festival the audience finds out everything about the diversity of the folklore in Slavonia, and about the foreign folklores that also participate in ''Vinkovačke jeseni''. The

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

is for the duration of the festival provisionally made, and is designed as an open-air Stage. The

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

s and the

scenography Scenography (inclusive of scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design) is a practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography is the combination of technological and material st ...

are thematic so in that comes the beauty of shapes and colors of the

garments Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials ...

and the sounds of

tamburica Tamburica ( or ) or tamboura ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", tamburica, тамбурица, little tamboura; hu, tambura; el, Ταμπουράς, Tampourás; sometimes written tamburrizza or tamburitza), refers to a family of long-necked lute ...

and

gaida A gaida is a bagpipe from Southeastern Europe. Southern European bagpipes known as ''gaida'' include: the , , (), () () or (), ''(')'', , also . Construction Bag Gaida bags are generally of sheep or goat hide. Different regions have ...

to light.

Attractions

* The Opening Ceremony - one of the most visited Events during the ''Vinkovačke jeseni''. The “Opening Ceremony” is actually a mass of people that goes along the streets of Vinkovci and observes the progress of the parade. In this event it is significant to mention the procession of the horsepeople on the

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s that move in front of the procession of the people. * The Review of Original Croatian Folklore - The Review begins after the ''Opening Ceremony'', and lasts for two days. On the review, at first, enter the two most successful folklore associations, first the ones from Vinkovci, and then the other folklore associations from all over Croatia. * Folklore Evenings - On the folklore evenings are sung songs from around Croatia. The folklore evenings are thought for the restored, and for newly launched folklore societies. * Small Talks of the

Šokci Šokci ( sh, / , italics=yes, , ; , ; hu, Sokácok) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to historical regions of Baranya, Bačka, Slavonia and Syrmia. These regions today span eastern Croatia, southwestern Hungary, and northern Serbia. ...

- This is an event, whose task is to represent the former way of life of the People of Slavonia, and to remember how one used to live in Slavonia.

References

External links

Official website of ''Vinkovačke jeseni'' in English
Recurring events established in 1966 Festivals in Croatia Vinkovci Folk festivals in Croatia Autumn events in Croatia Festivals in Yugoslavia {{Croatia-stub