Winter in Zagreb: Weeks of Never-Ending Festivities

The city of Zagreb appears not to sleep during the winter holidays, providing visitors and its people with a variety of rich entertainment. What appears to be most definite is that in Zagreb the January Blues appear not to exist, as the city remains as bustling as the holiday season, which might just attract one to visit Croatia’s capital in this time of year.

ZAGREB - From the beginning of December, Zagreb’s main square becomes a bustling center of attractions and events, only to continue throughout the winter months. The festivities known as “Advent u Zagrebu” kicks the season of winter festivities off with the beginning of Advent, but although Advent comes to an end, the winter festivities live on.

The city’s main square, Trg Bana Josipa Jelacica, is completely lightened up with beautiful Christmas decorations and lights. Alongside the traditional Christmas tree, there also stands a large stage for performances and a large enclosed tent, each providing numerous hours of both day and night entertainment. Zagreb’s main square also provided many traditional Croatian meals prepared on the spot, such as Sarma (Cabbage Rolls), Pecenka (Pig on the spit), Kobasice (sausages) that were record-breaking in length, and many more Croatian specialties, all for a great price.   The music, the food, the mulled wine, and the pleasure of the people are never-ending. It is believed that 10,000 sarma’s would be handed out a day, which is a sign itself on the square’s popular attractions and the amount of people that would visit the square in a day.

Alongside with concerts by various musicians, dance groups, and other talented performers, the main square was host of a rich New Years Eve Program that involved a variety of different performers, which would please attendees of all genres.

The bustling of the city was not constricted to the main square, as the main streets were just as busy and rich in entertainment. The cafés of Zagreb’s famous Cvjetni Trg were all at full capacity, as the streets were flooded with people sitting outside on the café terraces, sipping on coffees, mulled wine, or either sipping chocolate. With Zagreb’s mild weather of a high of 10 degrees Celsius, most activity and entertainment holds to the outdoors, maximizing Mother Nature’s blessing to this region. With stands selling smoked meats, hotdogs, mulled wine, the country’s signature sweets, or even roasted chestnuts every few meters, the options are numerous. The streets are full of people, laughter, music, and interaction.

When it comes to nightlife, the daytime scene still stays strong, as the same streets and squares are full of the same amount of people and offer the same attractions. For those who want to change the scene up, the city has many bars and clubs to offer. To keep nice and close to the happening heart of the city, Posh Fantasy Bar and Club is only a few meters away from the main square or Cvjetni’s cafés. This luxurious bar and club defends its name, as Posh, a very modern and yet classy locale, offers the greatest hits of various genres of music, predominantly House and RnB, and keeps visitors of Zagreb fully entertained all within the heart of the city.

The joyous festivities in Zagreb do not end with the New Year, but rather continue as in the first few days of January Croatia hosts “The VIP Snow Queen Trophy”, a famous ski tournament with many notable famous skiers who partake in the tournament. This year from January 3-5 the slopes of Sljeme, located close by Zagreb, provided visitors the entertainment of both the male and female Slalom Runs. Each evening the festivities would shift from the slopes back to the city, as the city’s square would provide various entertainment programs for all visitors to enjoy in, in addition to the previous festive stations of food, beverages, and entertainment.