Varaždin Baroque Evenings is a two-week festival with thirty concerts, performed by few hundreds musicians in front of approximately ten thousand people from all over the world. It is renowned as a European and world-famous early music festival with rich baroque programme. The festival pays a special attention to rich Croatian baroque music and its artists and in almost every concert you will be able to hear some of their beautiful compositions. Every year, there is one partner country. This year that is Ireland and our visitors will be able to enjoy Irish baroque music. In this Festival edition, we host performers from 6 different countries, that will present their country’s baroque music. Of special significance this year is the performance of the Irish Youth Baroque Orchestra, with which we would like to emphasises the importance to support young artists and their work.
The 52nd Varaždin Baroque Evenings will be held in the churches, palaces, Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin and Varaždin School of Music. The distance between all this location is a maximum of 15 min by foot, except the Trakošćan castle (38 km from Varaždin) and concerts that are located outside of Varaždin.
Varaždin Baroque Evenings are taking place in Varaždin, a beautiful historic city on the Drava River in North Croatia. Festival Concerts will take place in five different churches in Varaždin, in the Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin and in Varaždin School of Music. All of these locations are situated in the city centre of Varaždin. Part of the programme is located outside of Varaždin in the following cities around the continental part of Croatia: Prelog, Ludbreg, Novi Marof, Križevci, Varaždinske Toplice, Valpovo, Vinica, Krapina, Gornji Kneginec, Zlatar, Nedelišće, Sv. Juraj na Bregu and Virovitica.
Varaždin has a good bus and train connection with the rest of the country. Nearest airport to Varaždin is Zagreb Airport (81 km).
In Varaždin there are five hotels, three hostels and many private apartments to book. During Festival season, all the accommodation places are pretty crowded so it is adviced to make a reservation on time!
The greatest tourist value of Varaždin is its exceptional monumental and artistic heritage gathered in one of the best preserved and richest Baroque urban units, not only in Croatia but also in the wider region. The city centre is rich with beautiful churches with bell towers, museums (Museum of Angels, Museum of Insects, Art Galleries) and the famous Old Town Castle. Varaždin County has rich rural tourism that is centred around its beautiful nature, vineyards and castles (Trakošćan, Veliki Tabor, Arboretum Opeka.)
The festival’s dress code is formal wear. Because most of performances are held in churches and theatres through the city, visiotors tend to go by black tie dress code. Be prepared for constant weather changes.
In the city centre there are plenty of restaurants near the venues, where you can try everything from tradition to international cuisine. It is recommended to make a reservation.
Varaždin Baroque Evenings are known for their authenticity:
- the authenticity of ambient, as Varaždin is one of the best-maintained baroque cities and the program is held in palaces, churches and castles from that period;
- authenticity of performance, because concerts are performed on baroque instruments; and
- authenticity of the programme consisting entirely of baroque music.
