In the first half of July Fest Committee has decided that he will this year's Fest, since it is not in February as usual, to be held from September 12 to 23, and to consider other dates, especially in October.
Until today, Friday, when according to that announcement the Fest was supposed to start, there were several meetings of Board members with and without representatives of Cebef (Belgrade Festival Center, producer of the Fest) and the City Assembly (founder of the Fest), where it turned out that the Blue Hall of the Sava Center, where the Fest is planned, has no free dates in October and November.
The only possible term
The only remaining date, if the dates are continuous, is in the Sava Center from December 21 to 28. The members of the Fest Board accepted the offer, considering that the term is ideal for a retrospective of world festivals throughout the year.
We are waiting for the session of the City Assembly to approve or reject this proposal.
Why was the Fest not held in September as announced? There is no precise answer, and it ranges from the fact that the program was not ready, as the Fest is blamed, to the fact that the Fest rejects it and considers that there are reasons that have nothing to do with the festival and can only harm it. In that exaggeration, there was even a proposal that the Fest not be held this year.
Blame shifting
In the minutes of the Board session held on August 19 (it is not the last session that was held), it is said that "the festival in the regular time in February was very close to being held, the program was ready and the guests who confirmed their participation were arranged." The board agreed to change the term due to current socio-political and economic reasons, it was said.
Then the indecision of the Secretariat for Culture of the City Assembly appeared as a brake on the continuation of the work, to which it was established to entrust the implementation of the Fest. The resulting pause in the preparation of this year's edition was, however, attributed to the Board's inactivity, which turned out to be unfounded.
When it was decided that instead of the Youth Center and the Cultural Center of Belgrade, the producer of the Fest would be one institution - Cebef, it turned out that at that moment the financial report of Cebef was a year late. The board therefore concluded that it is not clear whether the Secretariat officially designated Cebef as a producer, or only formally.
While waiting for an answer, Fest still handed Cebef the prepared program and guest list with contacts, and again, as written in the minutes, nothing happened.
That's why the question "is the institution entrusted with the event interested in doing it this year" was asked.
The current result seems to be favorable for the Fest: thanks to the great effort of the Board, all stakeholders agree that the Fest should be held this year. And that should be considered a good result.
