Time Out Croatia news

Close to Zagreb’s pretty Zrinjevac park, Marelica Art Latte is a new venture providing something a little different from what you might expect from the average cafe in the capital. Croatia’s coffee culture is a core part of the day-to-day experience – locals sit for hours chatting while a serious business meeting might be taking place at the next table. But in most cases, these locales aren’t the place to go for a midday meal, and if you’re after quality tea, you’d best look elsewhere. Marelica Art Latte bridges the gap. It’s a cafe with a head chef, with books and potted plants on each table, and a black-and-white chequerboard floor tiling that brings to mind somewhere casual and inviting. Marelica Art Latte As well as the careful decor – note the charming wall-mounted lamps, light pastel-coloured kitchenware and nature scene tastefully adorning the walls – it’s the menu that impresses most. In order to stand out in the city renowned for its coffee, their artisanal blends come from Guatemala, Ethiopia, Colombia, Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico, while their organic tea list has an equally impressive global reach, hailing from key Asian points of provenance such as China, South Korea, India and Japan. There is care for the preparation, too, not just the origin, with attention paid to precise timekeeping for each cup. Those looking for a bite can enjoy high-quality eggs Benedict or an avocado toast breakfast. For the sweeter tooth, an offering of tiramisu or an apricot tart...

The tenth edition of Vinart Grand Tasting is taking place at the Lauba gallery across two days, February 28 and March 1. Croatia's leading wine fair is billed as an industry event, connecting 150 Croatian wineries with service and hospitality professionals, although anyone willing to part with €40 can get their hands on a ticket and the chance to sample a mouth-watering range of high-quality vino. The event runs from noon to 7pm on both days, with individual day tickets available for purchase online here and here. The price of admission includes a complimentary €5 voucher that can be used at the on-site pop-up outlet. The fair is run by Vinart, an organisation that aims to recognise and promote the best wines Croatia has to offer and raise the country’s status on the world stage. Clearly, they’ve done a good job as Croatian wines are increasingly gaining recognition and snapping up prestigious awards.Where: Lauba, Prilaz baruna Filipovića 23AWhen: February 28 and March 1, noon-7pmAdmission: €40 per day

Running until the grand finale on Tuesday, March 4, this year’s Dubrovnik Carnival brings masked fun and traditional delights to the city’s streets, squares, clubs and restaurants. Jugglers and majorettes star on Sunday, March 2, starting from outside the Gradska Kavana at 10am and followed by a procession from Onofrio’s Fountain at 2.30pm. This finishes with a family-friendly party at Lazareti from 3pm. The main children’s parade is down the main street of Stradun the next day, Monday, March 3, from 10am. For grown-ups, the weekend kicks off when singer Maja Bajamić performs at a masked party at Dubrovnik’s main nightspot, the Culture Club Revelin, on Friday, February 28. Doors open at 10.30pm  – find tickets and more details here. Grgo Jelavic/PIXSELL For four nights from Saturday March 1, many restaurants in town will be offering the twin traditional dishes of šporki makaruli and krafeni. You can find these carnival favourites of pasta with a meaty sauce, and sweet doughnuts, for €10-€15 and €2-€3 at dining destinations such as Orsan and Konoba Belvedere. To discover more about the history of carnival, every day from 9am-10pm, the Rector’s Palace will be showing a display of masks and costumes, perhaps providing inspiration for the traditional climax to festivities on Tuesday, March 4, the Ultimi od Karnevala. From 5pm, jugglers will be returning to the Gradska Kavana, where the Veljun Ball takes place from 8pm accompanied by the  Taliri band. See here for the full...

Another 30 or more acts have been confirmed to appear at the second edition of the Terminal V Croatia festival this July. After its successful launch in 2024, Scotland’s Terminal V Festival returns to The Garden Resort in Tisno for five days from July 17-21. As revealed in our exclusive interview with the founders of the original Edinburgh festival, Terminal V has grown from in-the-know get-togethers to major events attracting 40,000 people and top-name DJs. Now, joining artists such as 999999999, Ben Sims and Ellen Allien, more than 30 new names have been confirmed for the techno-centric event in an idyllic Adriatic location. These include Club Madhouse label head AK Sports, another Rinse FM mainstay, Dortmund DJ/producer Bae Blade, Berlin-based tooly techno exponent Future 666 and late ’90s’ inspired Überkikz. A very special headliner is also to be announced on March 4. Franko Kelam/Terminal V Facilitated by cutting-edge light and sound, four stages await these specially chosen acts: Barbarella’s, regularly voted as one of the best in the world by DJ Mag, the more secluded Olive Grove, the epic Main Stage and the superb Beach Stage, each with their own unique atmosphere. Alongside, there will be dancing on the beach and under the stars with daily boat parties and late-night afterparties running until sunrise. Throw in an array of daytime adrenaline-pumping water sports, and Terminal V is an essential addition to Croatia’s impressive summer festival agenda. Terminal V...

Major international coach company FlixBus has introduced a promising initiative for Zagreb bus station, the Socialist-era terminus that serves Croatia’s capital. Working in co-operation with Croatia Bus, the German transport giant has opened an airport-style passenger lounge, done out in its signature colours of lime green, where travellers can relax in comfort, charge their mobile phones and scan the information screens for details of arrivals and departures. The bright facility contrasts with its two-floor surroundings of unremitting grey, brutalist architecture and functionalist features. “It is important that this space is located right in Zagreb bus station,” says Ante Grbeša, director of FlixBus for the Central and South-Eastern European region. “From a transportation perspective, it is a unique concept, and we believe that we will encourage others to improve their services and offer passengers something more.” Launched in Bavaria in 2013, FlixBus now operates more than 80% of the German market, moving into the CEE region, North America and Turkey in recent years by buying up companies such as Eurolines and Greyhound.

Avant-garde performance artist Tomislav Gotovac and revered sculptor Ivan Meštrović have each earned their place in the pantheon of Croatian artistic greats, but both did so in wildly different ways. Ivan Meštrović is a MoMA-featured sculptor whose works are on public display throughout former Yugoslavia as well as in far-flung parts of the world, including a prominent and politically bold piece exhibited in Chicago. An entire retrospective of his career was held in Zagreb in 2024. Gotovac was a risk-taker, his performance art pushing personal and political boundaries. This was best exemplified in his legendary work Zagreb, I Love You, for which he walked for 20 seconds entirely nude to the city’s main square. At the Gallery AMZ, attached to the Archaeological Museum, a new exhibition explores his admiration for the respectable sculptor, positing that this seemingly incongruous pair of artists were intimately connected. Themes of the body, historical memory and narratives are compared, finding both drastic divergences and moments of deep similarity. Where: Gallery AMZ, Pavla Hatza 6When: Until March 13. Tue-Fri noon-6pm; Sat 10am-1pmAdmission: FREE 

In the wake of new and revived links between Dalmatia and Sarajevo, and from Pula into the Istrian hinterland, further investment in Croatia’s long-neglected rail infrastructure has just been announced. Co-financed by EU funds, backing to the tune of €620 million has been earmarked to modernise and establish the route between Dugo Selo outside Zagreb and Novska, near the border with Republika Srpska. The line will run for 83km and bring a swathe of communities of Zagreb County and Sisak-Moslavina, including Ivanić -Grad, Popovača and Kutina, within easier reach of the capital. It stretches a third of the way to Belgrade, in tandem with the overall aim to create fast international rail corridors across Europe. Croatian railways has put construction of the project out for tender, with bids to be submitted by April 8, and an expected five-year deadline for completion.  

Tonight, Wednesday, February 19, American trombonist Luis Bonilla is once more teaming up with the Croatian Radiotelevision Jazz Orchestra after their successful Jazz Cycle of 2019. The location is an unusual one, the Gorgona Hall at the Museum of Contemporary Art, for the performance titled ‘New York – Impressions in Latin Jazz’. Bonilla is no stranger to Croatia. Alongside his many shows, Bonilla also leads the Croatian Music Youth Summer Jazz School in Grožnjan. Back home in the US, Bonilla has taught at many great institutions including the Manhattan School of Music and the New England Conservatory. Since 2018, he's been a professor at the jazz department at the University of Graz. Tickets are available here or at the venue from two hours before the performance. Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, Avenija Dubrovnik 17When: February 19, 8pmAdmission: €10

Currently tipped to win the Oscar for Best Short Film for his acclaimed The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, Croatian director Nebojša Slijepčević is now planning his first full-length feature. Looking to adapt the award-winning novel by Kristian Novak, Dark Mother Earth, Slijepčević will have dramatise a complex story set in in a village in Međimurje in the early 1990s, involving local myths, suicides and the chaos of a community transformed. The setting reflects the writer’s own background before becoming a university professor in Germany. Interwoven narratives and flashbacks should keep the viewer enthralled throughout – much as The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, a true story from the Yugoslav War of 1993, ask all kinds of questions of the audience in its 13 minutes.

For the second year in a row, the World of Statistics has ranked Croatia at the top of a survey of 41 European countries for personal safety at night. The crime rates here remain low despite a significant rise in tourism since the pandemic. The most recent figures show the number of annual arrivals reaching 21.3 million for 2024, an increase of 4% on 2023, and 108.7 million overnight stays. Below Croatia in the safety study came Slovenia, Iceland, Georgia and Switzerland, with France and, perhaps bizarrely, Belarus, at the bottom. Serbia and Montenegro were ranked between 11 and 15.