European, regional and local heroines of art will gather this weekend at the first ‘Vila’ festival in the heart of the oldest national park in Serbia, in Vrdnik (Fruške terme), from 3 to 5 June, in honour of the poet, journalist and guitarist Milica Stojadinović Srpkinja. From music, through theatre, film, literature and programme for the youngest, to gastronomy, the festival will be a unique experience in nature, and admission to all events is free. The festival will bring together European fairies – gothic fairy Tarja Turunen, Jenny (Ace of Base), classical music fairies, violist Tabea Zimmerman and violinist Simone Lamsma, who will perform with the Camerata Novi Sad orchestra, as well as regional fairies – Kaliopi, Natali Dizdar and Amira Medunjanin with the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra.

‘Great efforts were made in organizing such a diverse and production-demanding festival. Some of the artists are visiting us for the first time, so the whole event really should not be missed, especially because it takes place in the fairy-tale ambience of Vrdnik. As a new experience, we hope that this festival will be another legacy project of the European Capital of Culture. The whole Heroines arch, which lasts until 12 June, is dedicated to female creativity and is inspired by our greats from their fields of activity, and various artistic disciplines are included,’ said Sara Vuletić, the programme director of the Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation.

Among the local fairies, we will watch actresses Anica Dobra, Nataša Tapušković and journalist Nataša Miljković, who will read fairy tales to children, then actress Nataša Ninković, who arrives with the play ‘Dust’, adapted and directed by Veljko Mićunović, then the heroines of dance performances ‘Živka Sirinićka Got Married’ and ‘Theory of Relativity’, as well as writers who will present themselves within the ‘Crusade for Milica’ programme and the author of the picture book ‘Fruška bajka’, Jovana Kulauzov Reba.

‘It is interesting to me that even today, in the 21st century, a woman who decides to be independent, spiritually, materially, to follow her dreams and to write poetry is brave by herself. Now we can only imagine how much courage it took for something like that in the middle of the 19th century in a small town, in a town like Vrdnik, where Milica was exactly what she was, an idealist, a woman who wholeheartedly believed in dreams of a better country and a better world, where she wrote poetry. People called her Fruška fairy and believed that she had some strange tendencies to create, which other women did not have, and that was really just her ability to be constantly educated,’ said Jovana Kulauzov Reba the writer and author of ‘Fruška bajka’.

Already renowned fairies such as journalist Branka Glavonjić and musician Maja Cvetković will be in the role of educators for future generations of young artists who will also have the opportunity to present their work at the ‘Vila’ festival, just as the screening of this year’s hit film ‘The Summer I Learned to Fly’, directed by Radivoje Andrić, to present the great, young actress Klara Hrvanović.

‘We have existed for more than 20 years and for all those 20 years we have not played at a festival that deals only with female creativity, so it is a great honour for me to meet side by side with Anica Dobra and, above all, with all of you who will be there. I have to say that I don’t know if I prefer the programme itself or the location of the festival. I generally do not divide music by gender, but creativity should be encouraged, especially in music, because when we draw a line – there are so few women in it,’ said musician Maja Cvetković.

The ‘Vila’ festival will also include a zone for the youngest – a training ground for skills, games such as billiards, frisbee and kite flying in the wind, with a special part that will be focused on educating children on the topic of financial literacy.

‘Erste Bank has long been recognized as a reliable strategic partner for programmes in the field of culture and art. We often fall into the trap of believing that the topic of finance is reserved only for adults. To dissuade everyone, at the end of the year we presented the game for mobile phones ‘Guardians of the Dragon’s Treasure’, which introduces children to the world of finance in an interesting and receptive way. We invite them to play, learn, paint, make coin models, guess secret objects and, of course, to watch an interactive theatre play with a dragon and a wizard together,’ said Sonja Konakov Svirčev, an expert on corporate social responsibility at Erste Bank in Serbia.

Free transportation during the festival

As the organizer of the first Fruška Gora festival, the ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation provided citizens with free transportation to the festival ‘Vila’ by city buses.

Transportation will be performed from Novi Sad to the hotel Fruške terme in Vrdnik, and back. Everyone who wants to go to the ‘Vila’ festival will be provided with seven departures and the same number of returns to each festival day. The place of departure is the plateau in front of the Railway Station in Novi Sad. Return to the city is from the bus stop at the hotel Fruške terme. Additional planned bus stops on the route Novi Sad – Vrdnik (Fruške terme) – Novi Sad are the Liberty Bridge in Novi Sad and the bus station in the centre of Sremska Kamenica.

Departures from Novi Sad to Vrdnik: 4 p.m., 4:15 p.m., 5:45 p.m., 6 p.m., 6:15 p.m., 8 p.m., 8:15 p.m.
Departures from Vrdnik to Novi Sad: 9 p.m., 9:15 p.m., 10:30 p.m., 12:30 a.m., 12:45 a.m., 1 a.m., 1:30 a.m.

We will soon be announce additional information regarding the routes and parking possibilities for everyone who comes to the ‘Vila’ festival by their own transport.

Timetable of the ‘Vila’ festival

Friday, 3 June
5 p.m. / Children’s programme: Anica Dobra Reads Fairy Tales to Children
7 p.m. / Literary programme: 46th ‘Crusade for Milica’ Manifestation
7.30 p.m. / Performance: Simone Lamsma and Camerata Novi Sad
9.30 p.m. / Performance: Kaliopi
11.15 p.m. / Performance: Jenny from Ace of Base

Saturday, 4 June
12 p.m. / Literary programme: 46th ‘Crusade for Milica’ Manifestation
1 p.m. / Book promotion: ‘We Are on the Islands Now’ (Sada smo na ostrvima) by Jasmina Topić
3.30 p.m. / DJ Mina Poznanović / ‘Great Shade’ zone
4 p.m. / Children’s programme: Workshops
4 p.m. / Children’s programme: Promotion of the Picture Book ‘The Fruška Fairy-Tale’ (Fruška bajka)
4.30 p.m. / Dance performance: ‘Theory of Relativity’
5 p.m. / Children’s programme: Nataša Miljković Reads Fairy Tales to Children
6 p.m. / Book promotion: ‘If I Am Her’ (Ako sam ja ona)
6 p.m. / Children’s programme: Erste Play ‘Guardians of the Dragon’s Treasure’
6 p.m. / DJ Lady Jelena / ‘Great Shade’ zone
7 p.m. / Performance: Amira Medunjanin and Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra

7 p.m. / Performance: Jasmina Topić / Cafe of the ‘Fruške terme’ hotel
9 p.m. / Dance performance: ‘Živka Sirinićka Got Married’
9 p.m. / Film: ‘Teachers’ Room’
11 p.m. / Performance: Tarja Turunen

Sunday, 5 June
10 a.m. / Literary programme: Becoming a Female Author – Surmounting Women’s Authorship in Serbian Culture
4 p.m. / Children’s programme: Workshops
4 p.m. / Children’s programme: Girls Rock Camp (workshops and performance)
4 p.m. / Panel discussion with Maja Cvetković (E-Play) and Branka Glavonjić (TV show ‘Bunt’)
5 p.m. / Children’s programme: Nataša Tapušković Reads Fairy Tales to Children
6 p.m. / Performance: E-Play
7 p.m. / DJ Nadežda Dimitrijević / ‘Great Shade’ zone
7.30 p.m. / Performance: Natali Dizdar
8 p.m. / Performance: Tabea Zimmermann
9 p.m. / Play: ‘Dust’
9 p.m. / Film: ‘How I Learned to Fly’
10.30 p.m. / DJ Nadežda Dimitrijević / ‘Great Shade’ zone
11 p.m. / Performance: Warpaint

Partner of the ‘Vila’ programme and the Heroines programme arch is Erste Bank.

Photo: Tim Tronckoe, Miloš Nadaždin, Promo