Festival Maribor is a festival of classical music that is the second oldest festival in Slovenia.
The event prides itself on its high quality and unique self-produced concert selection, which also intensely furthers the development of cultural tourism.
In 2008 we subsequently wrote a 5-year-long development strategy based on international promotion and have been very successful in reaching the goal of placing the Festival on the world's map of best known events in this category by 2012. Although the Festival Maribor is considered one of the highlights of the European Capital of Culture 2012 project it is by no means a one-time event - the Festival namely acts in the broader sense of long-lasting material and immaterial contribution to the city, the region and the country.
Festival Maribor Aims
- To create a forum, where artists can exchange ideas
- To create a forum for artistic experimentation
- To commission new works that enable artists to experiment in new directions and public contexts
- To integrate music of contemporary composers into programming and to celebrate the creative energy of young artists and the fruits of artistic exchange
- To strengthen our commitment to educating through specific programmes aimed at children and teenagers
- To use art as a means of helping to overcome social discrimination & exclusion
- To build a community of exchange between great masters and young artists from Europe and all over the world
- To provide an ideal platform for artists to pursue their creative involvement and work
- To deliver a unique and convivial artistic experience for the public to enjoy
- To develop audiences for the arts
- To foster pride in the involvement of the community
- To focus on integrating internationally renowned artists in order to build the region’s potential as a tourist destination
- To contribute decisively to the local colour and attractiveness of Slovenia and the Maribor region
Festival Maribor Objectives
- Orientation towards a public that is regional, national and international
- Creating opportunities for interaction between a broad and diverse spectrum of musicians who participate in a variety of chamber music groups as well as in the Festival orchestra
- Reflecting international culture to local audiences and to audiences from the rest of the world
- Offering an international showcase for Slovenian culture
- Encouraging community development by developing cultural tourism
- Demand for quality in musical content and reaching out to artists, media, audiences, sponsors, friends, patrons and partners in the best possible way
- Collaborating with other arts and festival organisations while encouraging public participation
- Ensuring that the Festival has adequate core funding in order to fulfil its aims and retain its sustainability
Festival Maribor in Numbers
During the last 4 years the Festival Maribor has presented 857 artists from 31 countries from all over the world. Every above mentioned artist has spent approximately 8 days in Maribor and took part in 5 different projects.
The main programme has been visited by 32,000 guests in the last for years, while there were 80,000 visitors at the complimentary concerts. 921 have travelled here from abroad and have due to the Festival stayed in Maribor for at least one night.
The main programme included 76 concerts in self-production and especially for the Festival composed chamber and orchestral ensembles. Together we have performed 720 orchestral, vocal and chamber pieces of music – 128 first Slovenian performances and 22 European or world premieres. 6 orchestral works have been commissioned by the Festival Maribor itself.
The global expenses of the Festival Maribor (operational + programme) from 2008 to 2012 has been 2,700,000 EUR. The average annual share of public funds is 56% - annually approx. 53.2% comes from the Public Institute Maribor 2012 and 2.8% from the Ministry of Culture. 44% of the common annual expenses the Festival has to cover with its own resources.
