Time Out Croatia news

Zagreb's Kaptol Boutique Cinema will this year hold a 2020 Oscar Revue over 10 days. During that time, you'll be able to see 10 of the best films in the running for an Oscar at this year's awards. Kaptol Boutique Cinema will present the movies with the full film star treatment of red carpets, interior decorations and overall elegance which will give a true flavour of Hollywood. The 2020 Oscar Revue can also be seen, without the fanfare, pomp and ceremony, at all participating CineStar theatres. Here are the films you can see between Thursday 30 January and Sunday 9 February 9 at the 2020 Oscar Revue. Joker Joaquin Phoenix gives a career-best performance in this origin story for Batman's greatest nemesis. 1917 Filmed using only two consecutively-running shots. Made by seasoned director Sam Mendes, 1917 is a gritty epic set in the trenches of World War I. Once Upon a time... in Hollywood Starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a time... in Hollywood is Quentin Tarantino's best film since Inglourious Basterds. Jojo Rabbit Jojo is a shy, timid and lonely child, hence his nickname, but he finds belonging in the 1940s within the Hitler Youth movement, accompanied by his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler himself. However, Jojo must confront his new political ideologies when he discovers his mom is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. Little Women An all-star cast including Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Timothée Chalamet, Bob Odenkirk and Meryl

Croatia is preparing for one of the biggest nights in its cultural calendar, Night of the Museums. This Friday, 31 January, will see museums and galleries all around the country open their doors for free at what has become a hugely-popular annual event. Many of the museums have prepared special exhibitions and special content for the sizeable crowds who take advantage of the event. Zagreb City Museum has prepared an exhibition about renowned classical music ensemble Zagreb Soloists, who will play three performances at the museum on the night. The exhibition has been organised to mark the 65th anniversary of the ensemble, who have performed over 3,500 concerts far and wide since being founded in 1953. It contains photographs, posters, awards and records from their illustrious and lengthy career. Zagreb Soloists will perform at 19.00, 20.00 and 21.00 on Friday. At the start of May, they will travel to Ireland for performances in Galway and Clifden.

2022 will see the grand re-opening of the Plitvice Lakes Hotel, the on-site resort and visitors facilities centre owned by Croatia's most popular National Park. Once completed, the hotel will be the highest category accommodation owned by any National Park in the country. The Plitvice Hotel was opened in the late 1950s and at the time was a leader in its class. Subsequent work on the premises has sadly not assisted in helping it maintain such a status. Zagreb-based architects Arta Projektiranje have been employed to ensure it lives up to the promise of original architect Marian Haberle. Marian Haberle is also responsible for the design of Zagrebački Velesajam (Zagreb Fair) and Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, also in Zagreb, plus many buildings in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. The new works undertaken by Arta Projektiranje will revitalize the original design features of the hotel, as well as the space around the building with particular attention paid to the immediately surrounding gardens. Once completed, the premises will hold the standing of a five-star hotel. The improvements are intended to assist the hotel in attracting overnight visitors throughout the year and contribute to them staying in the park for a longer duration. The renovations will cut the hotel's capacity from 51 rooms to 38. Once completed, similar renovations are planned for the other three hotels owned by the park; Bellevue, Lake and Grabovac. The reconstruction will return the hotel's original t

A major new events space and a large sports hall have been added to Falkensteiner's Punta Skala resort near Zadar. Recently released pictures show what both new facilities will look like when they open to the public in May. The event hall measures 527 square metres and, although multi-functional, is equipped with state-of-the-art technical equipment to assist the resort in attracting international conferences. It has a capacity of 470 people. The new sports, fitness and recreation centre has 800 square metres and holds gyms, bowling facilities, table football, billiards and e-gaming. Once opened, the new indoor sports and fitness area combined with its outdoor counterpart will hold seven tennis courts, mini-golf, football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, two year-round and two beach volleyball courts. The resort is also famous for its excellent spa facilities. €3 million have already been spent in the expansion of the sports facilities at Punta Skala, with a further €15 million earmarked for continuing the resort's offer in sports, fitness and recreation over the next 12 months. Falkensteiner's Punta Skala resort lies on a peninsula, just outside the village of Petrčane, near Zadar. The resort is surrounded by beautiful beaches and clear seas on all sides and also holds exceptional views of the towering Dinaric Alps in the distance. Last summer, the resort hosted the world's largest bouncy castle within its grounds.

In the sometimes sleepy city of Osijek, in eastern Croatia, the month of January is usually a relaxed affair. But, over recent days, video and images have emerged of a masked man roaming the streets in a costume that looks remarkably like that of Spider-Man. Braving minus temperatures, the inappropriately dressed figure was first caught on a video which emerged last Thursday evening. The video appears to show the costumed crusader running from the challenging ascent of a wall when confronted by a passer-by. He was again caught on camera at night, sitting alone on a bench in the shadows of the city centre.But, over more recent days, 'Spajdi' has become more gregarious. He has been pictured enjoying a drink in one of Osijek's many excellent cafes and bars. The most recent sighting caught him on his way to support Croatia in this evening's final of the male European Handball Championships. Spajdi enjoying a coffee in one of Osijek's many excellent cafes and barsOsijek is the largest city in Slavonia and, as it lies within the Pannonian Basin, it can get quite cold in winter. Exactly what has prompted this hero onto the freezing streets, in the superhero summer-wear of sports shorts, remains to be learned. The city has an extremely low crime rate and is not known for having an overt drug problem. Spajdi on his way to watch today's handball gameHowever, the city of Osijek does have a sizeable student population. And two neighbourhoods in parti

The Croatian National Handball team have reached the final of the Men's European Handball Championship. Their achievement came after an absolutely thrilling semi-final which went right to the wire, played against opponents Norway.The semi-final, which took place in Stockholm, was an incredible, even-handed affair, with both teams battling hard to edge above the other. No clear leader emerged throughout the nail-biting game and Croatian fans present at the stadium, plus the thousands watching from homes and bars throughout Croatia, were on the edge of their seats for the duration. So evenly-matched were the teams that the game had to be extended twice, as the scores persisted to remain level.The teams were locked in a tied score of 26-26 after the first period of extra time. During the second extension, Croatia's Zeljko Musa finally managed to score another of Croatia's thrilling goals from the game, pulling Croatia ahead with less than a couple of seconds to go and, crucially, Croatian keeper Matej Asanin had managed an incredible save, the ball almost passing underneath his arm and into the goal, ensuring that Norway could not gain the upper hand.As the game was called to a close, there were ecstatic scenes witnessed from the rejoicing Croatian players and the huge Croatian contingent in the stands. Across the capital city of Zagreb, a thunderous cheer could be heard being issued from almost every cafe and bar. Croatia will now meet the winner of the second semi-final, betwe

A huge kaleidoscope is being built on Rijeka's Korzo, the main pedestrian thoroughfare which runs through the heart of the city centre. The giant optical instrument is just one of many interactive and installation aspects of Rijeka European Capital of Culture 2020. As the photos show, the kaleidoscope straddles much of the street and has ample room for many people to walk beneath it. The kaleidoscope's construction will easily be completed in time for the Inauguration of Rijeka as European Capital of Culture 2020 on Saturday 1 February.As an optical instrument, the kaleidoscope is over 200 years old and is credited as having been invented in 1815.

Brač island's innovative Olive World Harvest Championships (pictured) has won the Creative Event Of The Year award at the FITUR International Tourism Trade Fair. The Creative Tourism Network awards ceremony was held at the Madrid fair from January 22 to 26. FITUR is a global meeting point for tourism professionals and the leading trade fair for inbound and outbound markets in Latin America. This year it was attended by 10,487 companies from 165 countries and regions, 142,642 trade visitors and 110,848 visitors from the general public. Brač's Olive Harvest World Championships were held in Postira on the island in October last year and the event beat 160 other entrants in the competition in order to win first prize. At the 2019 event, 12 national teams took part with the four representatives of Montenegro picking the most olives (77.6 kilograms) and winning the title of World Champions in olive picking. This year, the 4th Olive Harvest World Championships will be held from 8 to 11 October 2020. So far, teams from Poland, Slovakia, BiH, Hungary, France, England, Northern Macedonia, Germany and South Africa have applied. For a good insight into how the event on the beautiful island looks, take a glance at the 2019 after movie, featured below.

The Ćićarija Zgončari from Istria have been invited to participate in the Inauguration of Rijeka as European Capital of Culture 2020. The wonderfully-costumed folklore participants, who wear large sheepskin coverings and carry two large bells, each weighing eight kilograms, have already begun their journey. Ćićarija ZgončariThe post-New Year period in Croatia marks the start of carnival season, with Rijeka and Pula carnivals among some of the best known in the country. You can see similarly dressed figures at carnivals (sometimes known as maškare, poklade pust or fašnjek) events all over Croatia, particularly in Slavonia and in Rijeka. Indeed, in Rijeka, one such folklore group can take credit for reintroducing the huge carnival (Croatia's largest) to the city in 1982. Ćićarija ZgončariRijeka's bellringers, known locally as zvončari, each wear different costumes, dictated by the traditions of the neighbourhoods they come from. They include the Halubajski Zvončari, the Zametski Zvončari, the Grobnički Dondolaši, the Griški Krabunosi, the Munski Zvončari and the Pesniki. The Ćićarija Zgončari are the only such group emanating from Istria and their folklore group contains around 50 participants. Zvončari taking part in Rijeka carnivalThe Ćićarija Zgončari's march to Rijeka to accept the invitation has already begun. They will appear on Saturday 1 February as part of the flagship event at the Inauguration of Rijeka as European Capital of Culture 2020 although, first, they call

Soothing sea breezes, a gloriously mild climate and a blissful lack of summer crowds make for great reasons to visit Dubrovnik off-season. It’s all so good for you it will surely boost your health. No wonder this sweet spot on the Adriatic has been chosen as the locale for the EPIC 2020, the European Patient Experience & Innovation Congress, set to take place in Dubrovnik March 19–21. Co-organised by Croatia’s renowned Bagatin Clinic and the prestigious Cleveland Clinic from the US, the congress will bring together distinguished doctors, scientists and managers from around the globe. Headed up by Dr. Tomislav Mihaljević, director of the Cleveland Clinic, the congress will address various aspects of modern 21st-century medicine. Topics will range from healthcare technology – including artificial intelligence and robotics – to innovative and futuristic approaches to current best practices. This conference aims to shift the epicentre of innovation and top-quality healthcare services from the USA to Europe, and more precisely to Croatia, the conference host. It’s fitting for the inaugural congress to take place in Dubrovnik, as medical tourism has been on the slow but steady rise in Croatia. Now EPIC 2020 is bringing top experts in the field to an epic location with year-round tourism. 'Croatia has a lot to offer. Ophthalmology, orthopaedics, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery and dentistry are just some of the branches that showcase the most advanced technology and top-of-t