Porto Etno Festival

Porto Ethno Festival was launched and funded by the city of Rijeka with the basic goal of encouraging coexistence, tolerance and participation of all groups of citizens in the life of the city. This was of great importance, especially after the war in Croatia and the consequent very disturbed interethnic relations. Initially, it was a two-day presentation of gastronomy, customs, crafts and music of national minorities. The festival did not have and does not have a permanent venue, but for this purpose occasionally and temporarily used various (mostly) public spaces in the city. The European Capital of Culture project recognized this concept and extended it to the field of migration, world gastronomy and art.

The foundation of the festival is comprised of the music and gastronomy of countries whose minorities live and work in the city of Rijeka and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

With a new, modernised look, Porto Etno – Festival of Music and Gastronomy began life in 2017, and to this day, in addition to the community of national minorities, it has also gathered together many settlers in Rijeka, together with musical nomads from throughout the world.

Porto Etno Festival continues a twenty-year tradition of holding the Ethno Review – Days of Ethnic minorities, as publicly funded and led.

The backbone of the Porto Etno festival is the ethno music and gastronomy of the countries whose minorities are active in Rijeka and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, as well as all the other world music and gastronomy that Rijeka encounters due to increasingly intense migration. Taking the best of culture and nature and transform it into a spice that gives a new flavour to Rijeka. This creates new spaces for friendships, solidarity, and tolerance.

Main results and impacts produced by the initiative on the selected MESOC crossover themes

"Although this initiative, ie event, primarily refers to public participation and engagement, the fact that it has taken place over the years in various places has certainly helped to revive these areas. Even when it came to representing the national minorities of the City of Rijeka, it was not only about representing and socializing citizens, but also about connecting institutions. Diplomatic missions, associations of national minorities, cities and regions also appeared regularly as partners. In this sense, not only the inhabitants of the city of Rijeka were the target group, but at the same time Rijeka presented itself to others, as an open and free city.

It has already been said about the importance that this initiative had for the disturbed interethnic relations, but also by extending this initiative to the current issue of migration and migrants, it speaks of its importance and significance. Fighting prejudice through getting to know the other and the different remains a lasting inspiration for future festivals.

Elements that contributed to the generation of these impacts

The goals of the City of Rijeka contained in the strategic documents, which relate to the involvement and participation of citizens, have enabled such initiatives to be allocated budget funds.

In addition to financial Resources and work of the city employees, representatives of the private sector were involved in the organization and implementation through donations, as well as associations and partner institutions.