Ljubljana Festival

The opening the festival will take place at Kongresni trg on 27 June with a performance of Carmina Burana by the internationally recognised theatre group, La Fura dels Baus. Before the start of the festival, you can enjoy performances of the musicals Vesna and Mamma Mia! at the traditional Summer Night Festival. In addition to Elina Garanča, who will again perform at the Ljubljana Festival, other performances at opera evenings at the Ljubljana Festival will include the Csárdás Princess operetta, Madame Butterfly, which will be performed by the China Opera House of Beijing and the premiere staging of the third and fourth Part tetralogy, The Ring of the Nibelungs, embodied by an ensemble from the Mariinsky theatre.
The summer will also be marked by renowned orchestras and soloists. Ljubljana will host Russia's oldest symphony orchestra, the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yuri Temirkanovim. Piano soloists Martha Argerich, Gian Maria Bonino, Anastasia Terenkova, Stephan Keifer and Akane Sakai will perform; as will violoncellist Nie Jiapeng, violinists Dimitrij Sitkovecki and Lana Trotovšek, flautists Boris Bizjak, Claudi Arimany, Michael Martin Kofler, Martin Belič and Massimo Mercelli; with Richard Galliano on accordion, Mojca Zlobko Vajgl on the harp and maybe young soprano, Nika Gorič.
The performing Chamber ensembles include Trio Astra, the Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet, the String Quartet Ulysses, the Ensemble for Contemporary Music MD7, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and String Orchestra of the Slovenian Philharmonic. A relaxed atmosphere will be created by Roby Lakatos with an evening of gypsy music, Tomaž Domicelj with new cover songs, Marko Hatlak alongside singers and songwriters, Iztok Mlakar and Vlado Kreslin, entertaining at their 26th concert in Ljubljana
The memory of Elvis, the King of Rock & Roll, will be revived by Sam's Fever musical evening, the Highlights of West End musicals and Broadway. Tribute will be paid to Tomaž Pandur, who passed away last year, with a performance of Immaculate, dramatised and adapted by Livije Pandur. Also on the list will be an evening in the company of eminent player, John Malkovich, who will join the I Solisti Aquilani ensemble. The Jubilee Ljubljana Festival will conclude on 31 August with a concert by the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra with pianist Behzod Abduraimov under the baton of unique Valerij Gergijev.

Summer Cinema

Kinodvor and Ljubljana Castle once again invite you to Film under the Stars in the castle courtyard. From 5 - 29 July there will be premieres, previews and a selection of the most acclaimed films of the most recent cinema season.
Films will be screened in their original language with Slovenian subtitles. Non English speaking films will be subtitled in English as well as Slovene.
Tickets: €4.50; (€5,50 premieres and previews)

At the end of the summer, between 22 and 24 August, you are invited to the annual Cinema in Kongresni trg, where you can see three screenings highlights of the seventh art.
The annual Cinema at Kongresni trg is dedicated to important anniversaries and events in the city and film.
Admission is free!

Library under the Treetops

At six locations in Ljubljana -Trnovo, Tivoli and Zvezda parks, the courtyard of Ljubljana Castle, the banks of the Petkovšek / Vodnik home in Šiška - you can this year borrow a book and read it on a couch at Library under the Treetops. At Ljubljana Castle, until the end of August, the library will be held every Sunday at 11am accompanied by a selection of live music.

  

A Jakopič Gallery at Slovenska cesta 9 will, from 16 June to 19 October, host the Biennial of Graphic Arts and Maria Bonomi - a world-renowned Brazilian artist. 

  

Photo: Maria Bonomi, Between the Engraving and the Public Art, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, source: www.mariabonomi.com

A special attraction each summer, on a Wednesday, are the one-hour concerts by various brass bands, on the banks of the Ljubljanica and which always attract many curious tourists and locals. The musicians board a boat at Trnovo Quay (Trnovski pritan), then sail to the Dragon Bridge and back. 

  

 Photo: Litostroj Wind Orchestra.(Photo: Archive ZKD Ljubljana)