A ceremonial parade to open Gradić Fest

The opening of the Street Musicians Festival – Gradić Fest – will take place on Friday, 1^st of September, with a ceremonial parade which will pass through the streets of Novi Sad, from Trg Oslobođenja Square to the Lower Town of the Petrovaradin Fortress. The parade of citizens and artists will set off from the center of the city at 8 p.m., and the festival’s program will take place according to the schedule, before the parade and after it. The opening parade will pass through Modene Street, Mihajla Pupina Boulevard, over the bridge “Petrovaradinska duga”, and Beogradska Street in the Lower Town. Those streets will be closed to traffic from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The head of the parade will be Flaach Brass Band from Switzerland, a walking brass orchestra of 30 musicians, with its precise and rich sound. The visual segment of the parade will be five huge sculptures made of balloons, representing five golden birds which are a symbol of peace on the coat of arms of Petrovaradin. Balloons, which are often associated with entertainment and fun in the collective subconscious, will this time become art sculptures of huge dimensions, which the participants in the parade will themselves move and carry during the parade. The authors of the sculptures are Nenad Đukić, an artist from Novi Sad who is working and living in France, and Sean Rooney from Canada, one of the world’s most famous balloon artists, who will perform at the festival as a musician too, playing music on his unique instruments, which he makes from balloons.

Closing streets to traffic

During all three days of the festival, the following streets in Gradić will be closed to traffic from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m.: Beogradska Street, from the bridge to the entrance to the fortress, Štrosmajerova Street, Lisinskog Street and Vladimira Nazora Street. We recommend the visitors to the festival and the inhabitants of the Lower Town to park their cars on the plateau next to the Military Hospital (Vojna bolnica). During the period of traffic shutdown, the vehicles found parked in the streets listed above will be moved to an adequate parking place by a tow-truck, and the car owners will not be fined.

To Gradić by bus or bicycle

The visitors to Gradić Fest will have a free bus line at their disposal on Saturday and Sunday, 2^nd and 3^rd September, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. The bus will go from its starting bus-stop at Trg Slobode Square in front of the Cathedral, to the beginning of Beogradska Street, where it will pick up the passengers wishing to go in the opposite direction. The bus will be in the trademark colors of Gradić Fest, and at the starting bus-stop there will be a mini stage of the Radio AS FM with DJ program.

The visitors who wish to reach the Lower Town by bicycle will be provided with a place where they will be able to lock their bicycles, near Fruškać’s wooden heart with the inscription “Volem” (“I Luv”), on the slant on the right after the bridge.