Charms of Dubrovnik in Winter

Dubrovnik is a very popular destination all the year round.
In order to experience Dubrovnik in a different atmosphere and discover its mesmerising and breathtaking stone beauty, visit our city at the time when the majority of European countries have snow and cold weather, and enjoy a cappuccino in the sunlit Stradun.
If you wish to avoid summer crowds, find accommodation at a more convenient price, take pleasure in wellness facilities, traditional festivals and romantic weekends for two, winter is the right time to visit Dubrovnik!
In the pleasant wintry sun and in the embrace of the cold northern wind or the moist south wind, Dubrovnik in winter offers unforgettable sensations and enjoyment to its visitors. Short winter days are ideal for sightseeing, after which you can savour excellent wines and delicious local specialties at the heated restaurants and taverns. Taste sour orange marmalade pancakes, kontonjata (quince cheese) and arancini (candied orange peel) along with a glass of brandy that will keep you warm, in the same way the traditional Dubrovnik carols on Christmas Eve have warmed our hearts for centuries. The Dubrovnik Carol is a special custom. Singing “from door to door” groups of people wish Merry Christmas, see the old year out and welcome the new one. Like major metropolises, Dubrovnik organizes an open-air New Year’s Party with spectacular entertainment and live music on one of the world’s most beautiful stages in the open air located by the City bell-tower, from which a cascade of firework lights begins to fall down at midnight.
The greatest joy and pride of the people of Dubrovnik is the Festival of St Blaise, taking place on 3 February when both the Dubrovnik Patron Saint’s Day and the City of Dubrovnik Day are celebrated. The festival of St Blaise has been included in the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The best way to see the reason for this inclusion is to visit Dubrovnik early in February when the banners of the parish churches of Dubrovnik and its surroundings are carried in the streets followed by a procession of people of faith.
“When Latins go crazy” is the old proverb which describes the days of carnival and masked balls in Dubrovnik. If you are fond of wearing a mask, you will definitely have a good time in Dubrovnik at carnival time. Masked cooks will offer you sporchi macaroni, the local dish prepared in front of you by the Orlando Column in Stradun, in the very heart of the city. Along with doughnuts, this speciality is an unmissable part of the Last Carnival Day menu.Enhance your winter visit to the City of stone tasting the oysters of Ston at the Oyster Festival, which takes place in March around St Joseph's Day. The full taste of this aphrodisiac delicacy will certainly make you think “Dubrovnik is worth visiting in winter too. At that time it is a different and extraordinary City indeed.”

CHRISTMAS FAIR
At the time of the December holidays the Unesco World Heritage City of Dubrovnik will shine with magical decorations and sparkle with fairy lights, creating the atmosphere of a fairy-tale renaissance city. In the month of gift giving the Christmas Fair will take place. Traditional crafts will be presented, and handicrafts, Christmas decorations, candles, toys, glassware, embroidery, ceramics, porcelain and all the objects which the artists' hands manufactured for Christmas will be displayed. The caterers will offer Christmas cookies, sweet delicacies, mulled wine, bruštulani mjenduli (candied almonds), and traditional Dubrovnik sweet delicacies including kontonjata (quince cheese), mantala (must cheese), prikle (doughnuts), hrostule (deep fried biscuits) and other delicacies prepared for this holiday time. To the accompaniment of Christmas songs, the fair will be opened from St Nicolas’ Day to Epiphany.

DUBROVNIK WINTER COLLAGE
This autumn and winter the monumental beauty of the Fort Revelin will host visitors who will be able to see, taste and experience the best part of Dubrovnik in one venue....
The programme of Croatian songs and dances performed by the Linđo Folk Ensemble and the vocal group of the same name, the vine and sweet delicacies tasting, and the purchase of original souvenirs and traditional products will enhance your stay in the City at the foot of Mount Srđ in the seasons when the days are shorter, colder and occasionally rainy…

DUBROVNIK NEW YEAR’S PARTY
On New Year’s Eve, 31 December, the musicians of Dubrovnik will see the old year out with traditional Dubrovnik carols and a music programme lasting all day, which will be the best
possible introduction to the wildest night. Numerous visitors to Dubrovnik will begin the New Year 2011 entertained by Croatian stars. The Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra’s New Year’s concert in the Stradun on 1 January 2011 will be a special gift to the City’s visitors. The orchestra will perform the most beautiful operatic pieces that will additionally enhance the unforgettable New Year’s fun in Dubrovnik.

FESTIVITY OF ST BLAISE
The Festival of St Blaise, Dubrovnik patron saint, has been a special holiday for the City of Dubrovnik ever since the year 972, when people started to celebrate it. Beginning on Candlemass Day with a solemn procession of numerous congregation members, the Festival includes a series of church and secular concerts, exhibitions, book presentations and theatre guest performances dedicated to the patron saint of Dubrovnik, whose statues look at us from the city walls and gates and whose caring hand has protected Dubrovnik on his palm for more than a thousand years.

DUBROVNIK CARNIVAL
Our ancestors also had fun, and so should we... is a proverb which one can hear in Dubrovnik during the carnival, the time when everything is allowed, when people become someone else or show their true face... During the carnival in Dubrovnik experience the special atmosphere characteristic of jokes, laughter, merriment, joy and satire… feel the exceptional spirit of the City at the time of Carnival!

DUBROVNIK OYSTER FESTIVAL
Oysters are fullest and most delicious in March, when St Joseph's Day is celebrated. Gastro experts claim that oysters are best served freshly opened with some lemon juice. You will have the opportunity to taste the freshly opened oysters smelling of the sea on St Joseph Day (19 March) at the restaurants in Dubrovnik and Ston. The Oyster Festival is a gastro event which offers oysters and oyster dishes (oyster soup, oyster fritters, roasted oysters, fried or baked oysters in various ways) along with the Dalmatian song and a glass of good wine.
http://www.tzdubrovnik.hr

http://www.tzdubrovnik.hr