"We want to show that people want culture and creativity and we will bring to life a number of venues...We believe that this weekend will point to a model of our city's future, a future based on creativity, dialogue and solidarity," Mitja Čander, the programming director, told the press on Monday.

During the stint, Maribor and its partner cities hosted over 5,400 events that were attended by some two million visitors.

Commenting on media guesses whether the closing event would be held indoors due to planned protests against local authorities, which turned violent in the past, Čander said that this was a part of the reason, while the organisers also wanted to point to the "mosaic-like" feature of the European Capital of Culture with events dispersed around the city.

The final act in Maribor's stint will begin on Friday morning and last until Sunday, featuring concerts, literary events, a puppet show, fashion performance, chess tournament, exhibitions, film screenings and workshops.

A documentary on acclaimed author Drago Jančar (1948) will premiere on Friday, while the central event will be held at the cultural centre Narodni dom on Saturday, when Maribor will symbolically pass the baton.

The event will be directed by Matej Filipčič, who was also in charge of the opening ceremony, and hosted by comedian Tadej Toš.

Suzana Žilič Fišer, the head of Maribor 2012, the institute in charge of Maribor's stint, stressed that the ceremony would be open to the public, as the organisers wanted to conclude the year-long project with a thank-you to the citizens and everybody who helped along the way.

The entire week before the closing ceremony will be festive as Maribor will present past activities as part of the culture capital project. Apart from that, the organisers will hand out cups of buckwheat seeds to primary school children in Maribor and partner cities, which will symbolise the passing of the seed of cultural bloom.

Despite the official closing ceremony, exhibitions and several other events will be held as part of the culture capital project until the end of the year.

Portugal's Guimaraes, which held the title alongside Maribor, will hold the closing ceremony on 21 December.