Ceremonial Procession led by VJ Suave, Moon Hooch Opening the Festival

The quality entertainment program by artists from around the world will be completed by the lineup of this year’s Street Musicians Festival, which will, for the 16th consecutive time, be held from 1st to 3rd September at the Suburbium of Petrovaradin Fortress. Two of the most renowned names in street art, VJ Suave from Brazil and Moon Hooch from USA, will take part in the opening ceremony, on Thursday, 1st September at 19:30 (7:30 PM). During the three festival evenings, visitors will also have a chance to see other names from Great Britain, Spain, Australia, Poland, Hungary and Croatia it was announced today, during the media conference at Novi Sad’s City Hall.

Participants of the conference were Dalibor Rožić, member of the City Council for Culture, and Executive Director of the Art Association “Inbox” from Novi Sad, the organizer behind the Street Musicians Festival, Natali Beljanski Popović. The host of the conference, Dalibor Rožić emphasized the fact that for 15 years now the Street Musicians Festival has successfully confirmed the city’s originality, reflected through its cultural diversity, and mass availability.

– It is extremely important for Novi Sad to nurture these kinds of significant events, both for the economy and tourism, especially in light of the city’s candidacy for European Cultural Capital 2021. The very innovation of moving the Festival to a new location represents an important renovation of the event’s concept – said Rožić, inviting all citizens of Novi Sad to visit the Festival, and enjoy the colorful program.

The traditional festival procession in the streets of Novi Sad will this time around go the opposite way, from Modena Street, over “Duga” (Rainbow) bridge, to the Suburbium, led by the artistic duo VJ Suave from Brazil. Accompanied by music, the bicycle duet and their video projector will display creative and imaginative projections on the facades along the way. Their audio-visual installations will inspire spectators to actively take part in creating an unforgettable artistic experience, which is also the main idea behind street art, in general.

The main event during the opening of the Street Musicians Festival will be the performance by the temperamental jazz-pop band Moon Hooch from New York City. This trio of two saxophones and a drum nurtures its own unique genre of “cave” music, created over the years by playing at Subway stations in Brooklyn, and in front of the Metropolitan Museum. Meanwhile, these wacky artists recorded three studio albums, and soared to the heights of Billboard’s jazz album chart. They are announcing their performance in our Gradić as a pure spectacle of sound and an unforgettable night beneath the old fortress walls.

The remaining program during the three evenings at the Festival, together with participants from Serbia and the region chosen via the Festival’s open call, will be completed by some of the other attractive names from the world’s busker scene, such as the bucket percussion duet from Poland, the Bucket Guys, Human Jukebox and Cosmic Sausages from Great Britain, the acclaimed didgeridoo player from Barcelona, Senor Marcusen, and the singer-songwriter from Sydney, Brendan O’Reilly. Another performance worth highlighting is the one by young underground Croatian star Miki Solus, as well as the world’s best cimbalom player, Jenő Lisztes from Budapest.

The idea behind the relocation of the Street Musicians Festival to the idyllic, but run-down Suburbium, was born out of the desire to revive that part of the city, in near proximity to the city’s business center, the Danube and Fortress as the crowning jewel, and display it in its full glory, it was stated during the conference by the Festival’s director, Natali Beljanski Popović.

– The end goal of the Street Musicians Festival is to show street entertainment and art in our Gradić in its true light, to the joy of visitors, but also to turn the Suburbium of Petrovaradin Fortress itself, in the near future, into an attractive part of the city, inspired by culture and tradition, appealing both as a living quarter and a tourist attraction – emphasized Beljanski Popović.

The Street Musicians Festival is organized by the Art Association “Inbox” from Novi Sad, supported by the City of Novi Sad, Tourist Organization of Novi Sad and the Embassy of the United States of America in Belgrade, MTS, and Genrali Insurance Serbia.