Festivals are important for the economy and promotion of a country

Last night, the curtain came down on the ninth edition of one of the most popular regional festivals - OK Fest, with the performances of the bands Zoster, Brkovi, Sve barabe and Darko Rundek with the crew on the main stage.

The audience was satisfied, as well as the organizers, because the camp was full, the program was well received and visited, and accompanying programs were also organized for the visitors.

According to the organizers, more than 30 people visited the festival. Visitors from all over the world headed to Tjentište to enjoy three days of magic filled with music, movies, book promotions and an adrenaline experience. The intention of the organizers is to place Nektar OK Fest on the map of serious European festivals in the following years.

The tireless OK campers headed to the OK Summer stage around noon, where SKIN2SKIN, aka Lea Dobričić, together with Siniša Tamamović, chose the rhythms. Seeking refreshment from the heat of the July day, the campers settled by the pool where there was a relaxing atmosphere on a late Sunday morning.

A little later, in the OK Book zone, the promotion of Igor Marojević's books was held, and at the same place, from 21 p.m., two films, Rainey and Teški hor, were shown.

The program on the Sky Cola OK Stage started with the soft rhythms of Detour, followed by DLM. The change in atmosphere occurred the moment Smoke Mardeljano took the stage and sailed over the fierce instrumentals.

Just before dark, Zoster opened the program on the festival's main stage. With this performance, they proved why they are one of the most loved bands at OK Fest.

After Zoster, there was a performance by Darko Rundek and his team. This incredible artist, with a unique musical expression, took the audience through decades of his original work, and they returned the love with the same enthusiasm. After Rundek, Sve Baraba, a band consisting of Ajs Nigrutin, Timbe, Mikri Maus, Eufrat and Bvana, a well-known hip hop crew, will take the stage. The program on the Main Stage was closed with an explosion of energy afforded by the Mustache.

The director of the festival, Dubravko Suvara, reveals in an interview with Vijesti how difficult it is to organize everything in the Sutjeska National Park, where such events are not expected to take place, and what kind of support the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina has for the festival that this country has been known for for years...

Your festival is followed by all generations, older people come, families with small children, babies, but also teenagers. Because of that, how difficult is it to make a line up that will suit everyone?

We are glad that you noticed the most important thing that makes our festival recognizable and what we are proud of, which is that whole families put their trust in us. Every year in our camp there are more and more families with children who come to OK Fest and who get their first festival experiences in such a beautiful destination as Tjentište and NP Sutjeska. This is how memories are built, this is how a new generation of those who will surely return to Tjentište and Sutjeska for memories is created. And when it comes to the lineup, we get compliments that it's always tailored to our audience. There is something for everyone, everyone finds their own note that they enjoy. We have performers from different musical styles, but the audience is also "colorful", they enjoy every performance. So far, there were no "difficulties" in creating the same, but what is even more important, there were no negative reactions from the audience either.

During the nine years that the festival has existed, many big names have had the opportunity to perform at Tjentište. Some returned several times - at the request of the audience or the organizers?

Well, both, and maybe we should also say at the request of the contractor. OK Fest and Tjentište, NP Sutjeska are special in every way. Performing at our festival is different from performing at any other event. The performers are on stage, the mountains are around them, a really special energy and location, there are many daily performances, performances that are realized simultaneously on the stages, the audience circulates through the entire festival zone. A truly special atmosphere, which also pleases the performers. It's hard to stay immune to a place like this, which most musicians have said is the best festival location not only in the region but also beyond. The audience also reacts very well to the list of performing artists year after year. There are also bands like Zoster, who have been at our event for three years in a row, and every year they have better and better performances. These are simply bands that are favorites of the audience, that the audience loves, and if they performed every day at the festival, we are sure that their performance would be equally attended.

You tried to fill the day until the concert for the people who are in the camp, if they don't just want to rest, and they can enjoy concerts in the camp, cinema screenings, various games - table tennis, table football, various other games... Can they be bored at Tjentište?

The only thing missing from Tjentište during OK Fest is that the day lasts a little longer than 24 hours so that visitors can visit all the facilities. In addition to what you mentioned, we also have organized rafting or hiking during the day, so a part of the team goes to these activities, so they don't have the opportunity to feel the daily vibe of the festival. But everyone finds what they like best and, most importantly, they enjoy it.

NP Sutjeska has become quite popular thanks to the festival. Do you have support and how much is theirs and the state's in organizing this demanding project?

OK Fest has done a lot to promote Sutjeska National Park, our entire communication in the announcement of the event is aimed at promoting all the values ​​and beauties that this national park has. We also made promo videos of the national park. Thanks to us, a large number of people came to this destination for the first time, and we go back to what we said at the beginning, they will definitely come back here after OK Fest. The state has recognized the value of this project and there are institutions that support us and understand to what extent it contributes to the overall development of this area, and beyond. Sutjeska National Park is, unfortunately, in a difficult situation, and over the years that we have been here and how much we have been doing our activities in the park itself (and there were some before OK Fest), there has been both understanding and misunderstanding. Unfortunately, this space never managed to use all the benefits and capacities that only this festival brought to it.

This year, the accommodation facilities in Tjentište were filled several months before, and many made an offer with ridiculous prices. How much can this need for quick money harm the festival itself?

Yes, for the past few years, the nearest accommodation facilities have been filling up in just a few days from the announcement of the date and the start of sales of our festival packages, even without a published line-up. What is offered on our booking when it comes to accommodation is more than affordable and adapted to our target group, and as for other capacities, unfortunately we have no influence and the market only dictates the conditions. Our main advantage is that the largest part of our audience is actually the audience that stays in our camp, they are the people who come mostly for the festival experience, staying in tents, under the clear sky of Sutjeska, surrounded by mountains, that is one of their very important motives of arrival.

Even the accommodation facilities in the surrounding towns - Foča, Bileće - are full. The growth of the festival also brings the responsibility, not only of the organizers, but also of the state to make such events a brand. Do we know how to use the potentials?

We are pleased that our event contributed significantly to the economy, not only of the place where it is held, but also of all the municipalities/cities that gravitate towards this area. Unfortunately, in our country we still talk a lot about the potential and less about the product/brand. There are many such destinations that we did not recognize. It is not enough to have only wild nature, no matter how beautiful it is, if we do not have content and offer at the destination, we have nothing to keep the guest. The festival industry all over the world is very important both for the economy and for the promotion of a country, unfortunately, festivals are not yet talked about as country brands. But we hope that it will soon, because the neighboring countries have recognized the importance of the event in their promotions, so we hope that this trend will come to us as well.

Year after year, the number of those who come to the camp increases, places are taken even a few days before the festival. Was there already enough room for everyone this year?

The area of ​​Tjentišta is large enough to accommodate all those who want to come to OK Fest, there is no shortage of space, but also positive energy, fun, and socializing, so everyone is welcome.