"Lazarus Fest has been cancelled. Feel free to add our festival to the list of those brutally trampled by this regime." This is what its organizers announced on Friday, the day before the start of the festival.
Lazarus Fest promotes the village of Lazarevo nearby Zrenjanina, gathers performers from the country, the region and abroad, "fans of underground culture and the finest predominantly metal sound that this region has to offer", the announcement said.
Student assistance
This Friday, October 18, the seventh Lazaru Fest was supposed to start.
The organizers were not told why the festival was cancelled, but they assume that the Zrenjanin authorities did not like the fact that they announced that a box for donations to the blockaded students would be placed at the entrance to the Lazarevo Cultural Center.
Photo: PromoFrom last year's festival
They sensed that something unfavorable was going to happen at the beginning of the week when the Tourist Organization of Zrenjanin did not provide them with transportation to Lazarevo, and then in the middle of preparations, the space in the local community was canceled, allegedly due to faulty installations, and they were not allowed to use their own generator. They did not get an alternative space, nor could they change the location and hold concerts outdoors.
To make everything even more inappropriate, Lazarus Fest was canceled in the year of the Capital of Culture Zrenjanin.
Where is the Year of Culture?
When it was announced ten days ago that Leskovac would be the Capital of Culture of Serbia in 2026, the question arose - what happened to this year's. Somehow, the Year of Culture was not even felt in Zrenjanin, and therefore not even outside of it.
We did not receive an answer to an inquiry about this sent last week to the Capital of Culture Zrenjanin.
And we were interested in what has been achieved or is ongoing from the announced program of the Capital, primarily in terms of infrastructural projects, as well as whether the programs that have been implemented are part of the already planned annual programs of cultural institutions in Zrenjan, or whether they were made specifically for the Capital of Culture. We also wanted to find out how they solved the problem that arose in the first days of the project due to the cancellation of the city competition for co-financing the Capital of Culture program, as well as whether Zrenjanin received money from the Ministry of Culture intended for the Capital of Culture project of Serbia.
It started with trouble.
This March, Zrenjanin's capital of culture began with difficulties.
The day after the official opening, the heirs of the composer, the academician and the university professor Isidore Žebeljan announced that they demand that her name, works, quotes, photos and her music be completely removed from the program of the Zrenjanin manifestation.
"We cannot allow the name and work of Isidore Žebeljan to be part of the Mephistopheles charade of this government, which attacks the people during peaceful protests, that is not Isidore's world," the statement said.
Then, the artistic director of the "Slobodan Bursać" Choir Festival, Vladimir Coka Stojković, canceled the festival because he did not want to participate in the "manifestation, financed by the authorities, which proved who and what he is".
Then, in mid-April, the mayor of Zrenjanin, Simo Salapura canceled the competition for co-financing of programs of public interest that were to be implemented within the project "Zrenjanin - Capital of Culture of Serbia 2025". It turned out that there were no funds in the city budget intended for those purposes, although 30 million dinars had been previously allocated. Even to this day, it has not been explained where that money is.
What is planned?
Maja Gojković, the previous Minister of Culture, announcing the plans to be implemented during the Year of Culture in Zrenjanin, said that there will be around 100 cultural programs, of which 50 are completely newly created for the Capital of Culture.
"The project also foresees ten infrastructure projects, as well as the complete reconstruction, renovation and adaptation of the Town Hall, a historic building that will shine in its full glory and be handed over for use to all the citizens of Zrenjanin with pride," emphasized Maja Gojković.
At that time, she specified that the Ministry of Culture had foreseen "a total of about 300 million dinars" for the implementation of the Capital of Culture project. It has not been confirmed that this money reached Zrenjanin.
Zrenjanin's Year of Culture began with the premiere of a puppet show, as part of the Toša Jovanović Theater's regular repertoire, and was remembered for the story of the very high price of its realization as part of the opening of the Capital of Culture.
According to unofficial information, the Capital of Culture continued with the already planned annual projects of the city's institutions and organizations, only now they received the sign of the Capital of Culture.
In such a situation without money, when every cultural program is welcome, the Lazuarus-fest was cancelled. Before him, Goblin's participation in Beer Days was denied, artists and their exhibitions were kicked out of the gallery at the National Museum…
And the reason has always been the same – supporting students in the blockade and their struggle for change.
This October, "Vreme" celebrates and honors - as much as 35 percent discount for our 35th birthday! Valid for semi-annual and annual subscriptions. Subscribe now!
