If you’re still facing a dilemma about which holiday gifts to buy, be sure to attend the Winter Book Fair on Thursday, December 13 at the city gallery, Collegium Artisticum. The fair runs until December 24 and, just like every other year, it will be offering a large number of titles (at affordable prices) that are put out by both local and regional publishers.
If you like satire, then The Sun of a Foreign Sky, a play by Sarajevo actor Dragan Maca Marinković, will have you laughing at Dom Mladih on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, the versatile Sarajevo artist Ina Hamzić will be performing with the band, Open Mind, at the Carlsberg Holiday Pub, which will be open at Hastahana Park as part of the Coca-Cola Sarajevo Holiday Market (from December 5, 2018 to January 13, 2019). Over the coming days, you can catch performances by the Sarajevo Holiday Duo, who play at this venue in the afternoons, as well as the following bands: Sarajevo Acoustic Band, Dernex, Sunday Stories, M.E.S.H., Makao....
Sana Garić, a terrific musician from Belgrade, will be awaiting visitors at Jazzbina on Thursday. Sana’s music encompasses a wide spectrum of musical styles and is enhanced by influences from electronic music.
Those who love Slovenian culture will enjoy the program taking place over the next few days at the Museum of Literature and Performing Arts. The first marks the centenary of the death of Slovenia’s first professional writer, Ivan Cankar, and 85 years since the founding of Cankar, a Slovenian social club.
Another exhibit, Traces that Remain, will also open here on Thursday and run until December 22. Then the very next day (Friday, December 14) you can follow MPZ Camerata Slovenica, a concert featuring songs and recitations; and the film, Ivan Cankar, will be shown on Saturday, December 15.
On Friday, December 14, the internationally acclaimed Russian Ice Stars will color the holiday-filled month of December with magic for the entire family with their ice performance, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at KSC Skenderija. If you have other plans on Friday, you can still catch this top spectacle again at the same venue on either Saturday or Sunday.
On Friday, December 14, the cult cinema, Imperial, will again open its doors, much to the delight of many Sarajevans, this time as BIS – Brew Imperial Society. You can sneak a peek at the BIS premises starting at 2:00 p.m., and at 6:00 p.m. you can watch the film, BREW – A Story of Folks, Craft and Beer, as well as the play, Elektra (invitation only for both). The doors open to all Sarajevans at 8:00 p.m., when a performance by Mirza & Panduri gets underway.
On Friday at the Bosnian Cultural Center, there will be a screening of the documentary film, Scream for Me Sarajevo, which talks about the concert Bruce Dickinson gave in besieged Sarajevo.
That same night, Macedonian music star Tijana Dapčević will be performing at Aquarius Vils, you can expect a terrific party by Dutch techno DJ Reinier Zonneveld at Trezor, and you can dance to the sounds of RnB with Belgrade DJ Prema at Cinemas Sloga.
If you love boxing, don’t miss the 22nd edition of the Hakija Turajlić International Memorial Boxing Tournament, which will be held on Saturday, December 15 at Dom Mladih.
On this laid-back Saturday, be sure to attend Piano/Visual Introduction, an art exhibition of works by Mak Hubjer, Sarajevo artist, founder and curator of GSU Brodac. The exhibit, which includes 20 paintings and pieces, opens at Charlama Depot Gallery and will be on display until December 28.
On Saturday, Kamerni Theater will be streaming a live performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, as performed by the New York Metropolitan Opera, and if you prefer pop, rock, sevdah or electronic music, you will have plenty on offer this Saturday to suit your taste.
One of the most popular Sarajevo pop-rock groups, Crvena Jabuka, will be playing on Saturday at Jahorina Olympic Center, in front of Bistrica Hotel; Konvoj will be giving a concert at Aquarius Vils, and Mostar Sevdah Reunion will be playing some original sevdalinka with elements of jazz, blues, soul and ethno music at Coloseum Club.
The evening will close out with the Particooltura Plus Winter Party 1512 at Trezor, which will be specially decorated and feature sound and lighting effects that will make it perfectly suited for the winter and holiday atmosphere.
Ski lovers will be enjoying themselves over the next few days, because the Ravna Planina FIS Trophy Race will be held at the Ravna Planina Ski Center (Dec. 16 & 17), as will the FIS Majnex Cup (Dec. 18 & 19).
Sunday (December 16) is a day for karate, so you can follow the 2018 Mawashi Cup, a karate tournament being held at Ramiz Salčin Hall.
On Monday, December 17, the National Theater will be hosting the 26th Annual Napredak Christmas Concert, which will see performances by the cappella ensemble, Sveti Juraj, from Split and the Croatian Armed Forces Orchestra.
If you are keen to enjoy the sounds of sevdah, we recommend the concert, Sevdah, at the National Theater, which will be held at Sarajevo’s largest theater on Wednesday, December 19. This occasion will see the loveliest BiH sevdalinkas performed by our music stars such as: Halid Bešlić, Nihad Alibegović, Enes Begović, Šerif Konjević, Semir Cerić Koke, Ferid Avdić, Avdo Lemeš, Hasiba Agić, Amna Aganović, Alma Subašić..., and they will be accompanied by the orchestra used for BHRT musical productions
