Events in Macedonia

SKOPJE MARATHON / AROUND MAY

Skopje marathon was firth time held in 1997. Since then, it has been happening every year in the second week of May. The organizer of the event is The City of Skopje and other sport institutions in Macedonia, with many sponsors.

During the marathon, which is held on the streets of Skopje, there are three races: marathon – 42.195 km, half marathon – 21.097 km and recreation race Actives and Humane – 5000 m. The children also have a special racing track of 2000 m, along the River Vardar quay. This year, the Skopje marathon consisted of over 10 000 participants of more than 50 countries from the world.

Since 2009, the marathon is part of the International Marathon Races Association. The Skopje marathon was on the list for qualification marathon races during the Summer Olympic games in London, 2012.

GALICNIK WEDDING / St. Peter’s Day, 12 July

Galicnik wedding is aOr an expression of the rich and cultural Macedonian tradition, an authentic testimony to folk art. The Galicnik Wedding with its existence has contributed to nurturing the only wedding customs and rites from the distant past of the inhabitants of this region, to preservation of the original songs, dances, and the well-known Galicnik costume-made with filigree precision and accuracy.

This cultural and stage event, held every year at Petrovden (St. Peter’s Day, July 12) in the village of Galichnik at Bistra, is rich in many unique customs and rituals. A special commission elects two young people to marry on the Galichnik wedding, and it is attended by more than three thousand guests from the country and abroad.

The Galichnik Wedding was declared as the most successful tourist event for 2018, and for the New York Times and National Geographic, it ranks as the most traditional wedding festival in Europe

Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra

Few years ago the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra finally got a unique facility that fulfills the expected criteria and standards so it can welcome cultural performances of wider spectrum.

This new musical temple provides wonderful ambient and commodity in which music as the highest form of art and universal language will dwell.

This new architecture is surely be one of the brightest modern symbols of the city.  The capacity of the philharmonic orchestra big hall is 1000 seats, and there is also smaller multi-functional hall with capacity of 310 seats.

 

You can check the latest philharmonic events at

http://www.filharmonija.mk/

Beer Fest Prilep / 18 - 21 July 2023

This festival is of open character and is held for more than 16 years in the centre of Prilep during the summer period, usually in July. Many famous and acknowledged beer producers as well as local hoteliers take participation in this festival. Visitors come from all around Macedonia, and the neighbouring countries.

The festival is recognisable for its lovely music and fun, delicious barbecue and cold beer. And of course, massive number of people. During this event, the city of Prilep, a tourist manifestation with long tradition, welcomes over 300 000 visitors.

This exhibition of fine beers and specialties, enriched with chosen music brands from the Balkans, is a real top tourist destination. The manifestation lasts for 4 days and has an exceptional number of visitors. On the Prilep’s tourist map, Pivo fest (the beer festival) holds the primal position.

OHRID CALLING 2023 / From 31.07 - 03.08

After the last year’s edition at OHRID CALLING with the spectacular performances by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Armin Van Buren, the festival has become a brand, well-known all around the world today.

This year’s line-up consists of 16 world artists, performing for four days, which is unseen until now, and a minimum of 20.000 visitors are expected each day from all around Europe.

Vanessa Mae on Ohrid Summer

OHRID SUMMER FESTIVAL / BETWEEN 12 JULY AND 20 AUGUST

The Ohrid Summer Festival is one of the greatest and most important musical and scenography festivals in Macedonia. It is traditionally and continually held for 57 years in the Church of St. Sofija, whose space offers an exquisite acoustics.

The Ohrid Summer Festival is held from 12th, July to 20th, August, and its reputation is increasing as years go by. Many world famous and renowned artists are presented, and the interest to be part of this manifestation is enormous.

The festival is a blending of artists from all around the globe, it offers cultural and artistic events for everyone’s taste, a great number of concerts, poetic readings and theatrical and ballet plays. Most of them perform on the magical scene under the skies, similar to the one in the Antique Theatre in Ohrid, as well as the one in the yard of the Church St. Sofija, then comes Plaoshnik, the Samuil’s Fortress.

The highly acknowledged world artistic names that have taken part in Ohrid Summer Festival are: Mstislav Leopoldovich, Aldo Ciccolini, Gidon Kremer, Ruggiero Ricci, Viktor Tretiakov, Henryk Szeryng, Salvatore Accardo, Elena Obraztsova, Katia Ricciarelli, Victoria de los Ángeles, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Julian Rachlin, Ennio Morricone and others. This year’s Ohrid Summer Festival will be opened by the world famous diva, the violinist Vanessa Mae.

Ohrid swimming marathon / 24 August

The first marathon swimming race in the Ohrid lake waters was organized back in 1954, and its length was 2.5 km. After several years, in 1962, the race was turned into a 30 km hard-working experience in the sport swimming activities.

The route of the Ohrid marathon starts from the St. Naum monastery and ends on the city harbour in Ohrid. Due to the long tradition of this marathon since 1998 it has become part of the Grand during a series of the International Swimming Federation (IMF) which, together with the Macedonian Swimming Federation has organized this wonderful sport event for years.

The swimming lane which is swum today is a long tradition, established in 1992, is called “Klime Savin”. Both men and women take part on this long-lasting swimming marathon

Struga Poetry Evenings / BETWEEN 21 AND 28 AUGUST

Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) is an international poetry festival held annually in Struga, North Macedonia. During the several decades of its existence, the Festival has awarded its most prestigious award, the Golden Wreath, to some of the most notable international poets, including: Mahmoud Darwish, Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan Agyey, W. H. Auden, Joseph Brodsky, Allen Ginsberg, Pablo Neruda, Eugenio Montale, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Artur Lundkvist, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Nichita Stănescu, Ko Un, Adunis, Makoto Ooka, Miroslav Krleža, Yehuda Amichai, Seamus Heaney, Bei Dao, and domestic authors such as Blaže Koneski, Mateja Matevski.

The Struga Poetry Evenings started in 1962 with a series of readings by a number of Macedonian poets in honor of the two brothers, Konstantin and Dimitar Miladinov, great intellectuals, teachers, and writers, born in Struga in the beginning of 19th century. Konstantin Miladinov has been considered the founder of modern Macedonian poetry and each year the festival officially opens with his memorable poem “Longing for the South” (“T’ga za jug”) written during his student days in Moscow.

As from 1963, when many poets from all Yugoslav republics also joined the festival, the “Miladinov Brothers” award was established for the best poetry book published in the Republic of Macedonia between two Struga poetry festivals. By 1966, the SPE turned into an international poetry event and, consequently, an international poetry award called “The Golden Wreath” was established, given to a world renowned living poet for his poetic oeuvre or life achievement in the field of poetry.

MakeDox / festival for socially engaged cinema and documentary film 21-28 August

MakeDox, the festival for socially engaged cinema and documentary film was established in Skopje in 2010.

MakeDox Festival has the mission to share and promote creative documentary films and art. What started as an enthusiastic intention of a group of documentary film lovers and activists has grown into a nationally and regionally-recognized film happening. The Festival is accompanied by exhibitions, debates, workshops, master classes, and music events.

Skopje Cinema City / Beginning of July

The film festival Skopje Cinema City is a festival with a specialised focus on musical documentary films and possesses international character. Its goal is to bring fame and education from the field of the documentaries and the music, and its target group are authors and admirers of the documentaries, musicians, music and film journalists and critics, music and film workers, photographs, designers, as well as all those people connected to the creative industries in Macedonia.

Skopje Cinema City represents a festival platform on more levels, and apart from the showing documentaries also includes educational contents and musical events.

The festival is divided into several categories: film programme, educational and promotion programme, photography exhibition and musical events. The film programme consists of documentaries which in their own way elaborate the topic of music: biographical, promotional, and films with deep social topics.

Having put an emphasis on the guitar, there are great music legends playing this instrument, like Robert Jonson, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and our Vlatko Stefanovski, from 2nd to 7th September, in the 5th Jubilee edition of the Festival for musical documentaries “Skopje Cinema City”. The opening will be on 2nd September, at 8pm with an exhibition entitled as “Pateshestvie” in the Museum of the City of Skopje.

The exhibition “Pateshestvie” represents a story of the career of one of the greatest Macedonian musicians, Vlatko Stefanovski, yet it is represented through numerous concert posters from different period of his career. This exhibition shows another aspect of the career by this exceptional guitar virtuoso Stefanovski, meaning, his rich concert opus throughout the years.

Beer Land Skopje / BETWEEN 12 AND 15 SEPTEMBER

During independent european tours or escorted tours to Macedonia in September, you can participate for vacation time span of 4 days, the event BeerLand is taking place in the fortress of Skopje. This festival, created with celebration with beer in mind, offers its guests, besides the usual stands with Macedonian, regional, European and World beers, particularly interesting music and entertaining opportunities, divided into several segments.

Music scenes are divided into main, silent and ethno-world stage, and there is cinema and outdoor dance podium, where visitors can play social games related to beer. With over 150,000 visitors Pivolend is one of the most massively visited events in Skopje and in Macedonia in general, which shows that Macedonians are devotees of beer and good fun.

MOT - international theatre festival / BETWEEN 13 and 21 September

“MOT” festival is an international festival with a long year experience, which presents and promotes theater performances, which with their content, ideas and contemporary character, bring novelties to the domain of theater. This year features the 44rd International theatre festival in Macedonia, Skopje .

This is the 39th edition of this festival, which sees the participation of artists and theaters from different countries of the world such as Croatia, United Kingdom, Macedonia, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Czechia, Italia and Slovenia.

MOT Program this year: http://www.mot.mk/2019/?fbclid=IwAR2Gmn9Nx7JhVBaRrwluMjCvz-zXGyWqIeVL9CM5J9RKN6Wl5866PDrh_xQ

Film Festival “Manaki Brothers” / between 14 and 21 september

The International Cinematographers Film Festival “Manaki Brothers” is the first and oldest world film festival dedicated to the creativity of the world’s cinematographers. It started in 1979 as an initiative of one of the leading founders – The Association of film professionals in Macedonia, in collaboration with the city-host of the event – Bitola and the Cinematheque of Macedonia.

It has been established in the honour and as an inspiration of the opulent photographical and film art by the brothers MANAKI: Janaki (1878-1954) and Milton (1880-1964) who, in the city beneath Pelister, the City of the Consuls – Bitola, had their own photographic studio and cinema.

At the beginning it was imagined to be just Manaki’s gatherings, but then it became festival of the film camera of the ex-Yugoslavia cinematographers, and the festival kept on growing with immense potential. In 1991, it will turn into an International Cinematographers Film Festival, whose films are in a competition for the three festival awards: Golden, Silver and Bronze Camera 300.

Until these days, the laureates of these valuable awards became great cinematographers in the global film art, some of them being Sven Nykvist, Henri Alekan, Freddie Francis, Jose Luis Alcaine, Jerzy Wójcik, Raoul Coutard, Vittorio Storaro, Christopher Doyle, Anthony Dod Mantle, Robby Müller, Bruno Delbonnel, Roger Pratt, Christian Berger and many others brilliant minds in the world of the film art nowadays.

The International Cinematographers Film Festival “Manaki Brothers” is held every year in September.

Kumanovo Jazz Festival / 20 and 21 September

In the end of the summer or the beginning of the autumn every year, this three-day jazz festival hosts famous jazz musicians from Macedonia and all over Europe.

This year’s Kumanovo Jazz Festival offers you a rich international program and soundtracks from the world of jazz.

September 20th

– MACEDONIAN DIXIELAND JAZZ ORCHESTRA

– Thanos Stavridis TRIO (Greece)

September 21th

– Vasko Atanasovski TRIO (Slovenia)

– Adnan Teskeredzic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Skopje Wine Expo 2023 / BETWEEN 26 and 28 SEPTEMBER

This year, for the 14th time, under the auspices of the City of Skopje will be held the largest Macedonian wine festival – Skopje Wine Expo 2019. Guest will enjoy great Macedonian wines, delicious Macedonian appetizers and great Macedonian music!

See you at Mother Teresa Square (in front of the Macedonian Opera and Ballet) from September 26-28!

Let the wine tell the most beautiful Skopje autumn stories!

Skopje Jazz Festival / BETWEEN 17 AND 20 October

Skopje Jazz festival is one of the prestigious cultural manifestations in Macedonia. It is enlisted among the leading jazz festivals in Europe and has been on the stage for 37 continual years and it has an exceptional reputation in Europe and the world.

The first Skopje Jazz Festival was held in 1982, and in its history there are numerous events of some of the most famous names from the American and European jazz, the Latin-American and African music like Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Stanley Clark, BB King, Ray Charles, Tito Puente, Ornette Coleman, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, James Carter as well as the best Macedonian musicians. It is held in Skopje towards the end of October, on several different locations throughout the city.

Skopje Jazz Festival is a member of the prestigious association “European Jazz Network” as well as a part of the European Forum on the world musical festivals.

SKOPJE WHISKEY FEST / OCTOBER 2023

Whiskey drinks, single malts, multi-distillery bourbons and production areas will be featured at SKOPJE WHISKEY FEST 1.0 – some are well known to the public and some are rare and specific and will surely arouse particular interest among whiskey connoisseurs and enthusiasts.

https://skopjewhiskeyfest.mk/

Desonanz Festival 2023 / AROUND OCTOBER

In its 11th edition, Desonanz Festival 2019 enter with both a decade-long experience and a renewed hunger for relevant contemporary music in Skopje. During 6 festival days, this year’s programme connects and unifies not only a multitude of different genres and forms of expression, but also attempts to narratively reconnect a the snapshots of various significant moments of electronic and experimental arts through the years through a unique and local perspective.

www.desonanz.org

The Vevcani Carnival / 14 January

The Vevcani Carnival is a carnival that according to its specifications remains different from the others in the world. The tradition has it, that it exists as much as the settlement Vevcani, located 20 km from the Ohrid Lake. With a tradition centuries old, it is a cultural and tourist attraction simultaneously.

Written sources testimony that the carnival is at least 1460 years old, and is held every year ahead of the Orthodox New Year, on 14th January (Vasilica) when people celebrate St. Basil the Great. During the carnival, every street and corner in Vevcani is transformed into an open theatre, participants in masks are real actors. The imagination for improvisation and irony of the current happenings is exceptional.

The Vevcani Carnival is considered as a 48-hour total freedom of the body and soul, when the creativity comes first when criticizing the negative social happenings and people responsible for that.
The carnival is a member of the World Federation of Carnival Cities since 1993 and is enlisted among the most attractive carnivals in the world.

Youth Culture Center - MKC

Created in 1972, the Youth Cultural Center’s (then known under the name “25 May”) mission is to promote culture and science values to youth. Its rich platform covers various musical, movie, theater, exhibition events, but also scientific gatherings, workshops and lectures, debate clubs, etc.

YCC (MKC) has always been important part of Macedonian culture, not only for young people from Skopje, but also from all around the Balkans.

It welcomed various types of audience as it was host of many musical, theater, movies festivals.

 

You can check the latest events at

https://old.mkc.mk/en/nastani/

Strumica Carnival / 29 FEBRUARY

The tradition of this festival is long-lasting, since it has been held every year during the Orthodox fasting period Trimeri, before the Easter holiday. The Carnival is a reminiscence of one pagan time that described the celebration of fertility and the cleaning of the negative energies in the everyday life. There are written proofs since 1670 by the Turkish writer Evliya Çelebi, who was then staying in Strumica.
Since 1991, up until today, the carnival has an organized form. In 1994, Strumica became a member of FECC (The Federation of European Carnival Cities), and in 1998 it hosted the 19th International Congress of Carnival Cities. Despite our participants from the country, other carnival groups also take place and at the end they all receive awards as individuals and as teams for the free and resourceful topics. In those three days, the city of Strumica lives for the events and is open for all the visitors and curious people for this type of ritual expression.
Since 2000, as part of the Strumica Carnival, there is also an International festival for cartoons and aphorisms. The carnival’s topic is light erotica and there is a forthcoming award. The participation on the festival is consisted of domestic and foreign cartoon artists and free artists, and as the years go by it notifies a great rise.


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