Dear friends and lovers of handpan music, I announce the "Handpan Festival: Međimurje" which will take place from June 19-22, 2025 at three cultural locations in Međimurje.

The purpose of this festival is to promote the handpan instrument, handpan music, connect the local and global handpan community, get to know Međimurje and enrich the Međimurje tourist offer, promote Međimurje's traditional gastronomy, promote art and culture. The entire event will be open to the general public. There will be no entrance fee, but voluntary donations will be collected in support of the initiative and its re-organization. Possibility of free camping throughout all four days of the festival. Stay in a natural environment. Event suitable for families and children.

Program:

• a multitude of musical educational workshops and additional content focused on creativity, art and culture, ecology and nature, and possibly sports. Musical workshops include handpan, traditional Međimurje instruments, percussion, didgeridoo, singing, dancing, rhythmic exercises. Storytelling, Slavic mythology. Poetry reading. Drawing, painting. Children's park, trampoline. Lectures on nature and local fauna and flora, lectures on the history of handpan.

• Various exhibitors : Instrument makers (handpan, traditional Međimurje instruments, drums, flutes, didgeridoo, etc.), handicrafts, OPGs, artist exhibitions.

• A rich musical program where world-famous handpan players from England, Germany, Macedonia, Portugal, Greece, Italy, etc. will visit us, and our local prominent musicians will also perform. Various musical styles and genres, and among other things, you will have the opportunity to hear traditional Međimurje music arranged with handpans.

Target audience:

Family and children, local population of Međimurje and the rest of Croatia. Audience from neighboring countries, Europe, but also from all over the world. Handpan and music lovers, people eager for a new, unique experience. Culture lovers, people who love spending time in nature. People eager to progress in music and playing instruments. Lovers of Slavic mythology, poetry. Lovers of tradition and gastronomy.

More about locations:

On June 19th and 20th, the festival will host the "Fairytale Forest" where we will have the opportunity to learn about Slavic mythology, history and tradition of Međimurje, enjoy delicious traditional Međimurje food, and enjoy the combination of fairy tales and tradition in a beautiful natural environment. Thank you to the municipality and tourist board of Nedelišće for your support.

June 21st. It's still under negotiation, so it will remain a surprise for now. It's the first day of summer, and in principle, swimming and various sports activities should be available.

On June 22nd, the festival will be held in the atrium of the Zrinski Castle in Čakovec. This will be the festival's grand finale, with the daytime program based on an exhibition of artists, a synergy of poetry and music, and the evening program based on a musical concert program.

This part of the festival takes place as part of the "Čakovec Summer" program.

Thank you to the Tourist Board of the City of Čakovec and Helga Lajtman, director of the Čakovec Cultural Center, for your support. Thank you to Maša Hrustek Sobočan, director of the Međimurje Museum in Čakovec, for your trust and permission to use the castle atrium.

Namely, there are many people who would like to come and support the festival at their own risk and expense, and Handpan players from Croatia and abroad who are willing to come and play and hold workshops with the possibility of voluntary donations from festival attendees as support for sharing their services, music, skills and education. They liked our story and I am honored by the presence of such people.

I even got the opportunity for a friend to lend me a PA system for 2 days. I have my own mixer, so I would need to rent or borrow some other musical equipment, namely microphones.

I can afford to invest up to 1000 euros out of my own pocket, although I would like to avoid that situation because I have already put a lot of effort into that and would like to focus more on maintaining my own existence.

For the purpose of organizing this event, I am trying to raise a minimum of 3,000 euros through this campaign, which I need for the most basic expenses, and more realistic needs would be around 5,000 euros.

The money raised through the campaign would go towards paying for:

• ZAMP
• stage and lighting
• announcement 2 days left
• Food for artists and workshop leaders during their stay at the festival
• tent rental for artists and program leaders
• music equipment rental
• sound engineer's fee
• visual identity of the event, design
• Video and audio documentation of events and processing of materials for the purpose of memories and promotion
• Photographer
• full, or at least partial, subsidization of travel expenses for musicians and workshop leaders who are willing to come from countries like Macedonia, Great Britain, and the like, and who have already supported our story at their own expense several times. I would like to support them this time as well.
• It would be nice if I could pay at least symbolic royalties to musicians.

The entire festival would function on voluntary donations that would go towards paying fees to musicians and workshop leaders.

I would organize the entire story on a volunteer basis, and I would redirect all finances to the people who come to support this organization and story, possibly open to them rewarding me for my effort and work and sharing their piece of the pie with me. The greatest reward for me is the realization of this project and the fulfillment of my sincere intention.

I wonder... Can 60 people gather to support me in advance with 50 euros for a 4-day festival where they could participate in various educational music and environmental workshops, or maybe 100 people who would give support of 30 euros?

Or maybe people and friends who would symbolically support me with less, regardless of my attendance and interest in a festival like this?

You would help me in my intention to enrich the tourist offer in Međimurje, to present the Handpan instrument to a wider audience, so that many of my colleagues and I can gain more space and opportunities, as well as connections that allow us to further grow and develop in the field of music.

Any excess money collected from donations would go towards organizing more similar events in Međimurje, or the rest of Croatia, during the summer of 2025.

Thank you all for reading, your time, goodwill and support.