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Music · Ljubljana
Founded in 1960, the Ljubljana Jazz Festival is the oldest continuously running jazz festival in Europe: for a few days at the start of summer it brings together Slovenian and international musicians at Cankarjev dom and at the Križanke outdoor theatre.
In the photo: Ljubljana
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Ljubljana Jazz Festival — Ljubljana
For a few days in June or July; dates vary each year.
June/July
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
The Ljubljana Jazz Festival began in 1960 in Bled as the jazz festival of the former Yugoslavia and moved to the Slovenian capital in the late 1960s. Since then it has taken place every year without interruption, which makes it the oldest continuously active jazz festival in Europe.
In its early years the programme mainly featured Yugoslav big bands and soloists, and soon started hosting European and North American groups. For many years the festival’s home was the Križanke complex, a former monastery in the city centre. Since 1982 it has been organized by Cankarjev dom, the country’s main cultural centre.
Today’s programme mixes well-known international jazz names with Slovenian musicians, leaving room for contemporary jazz, improvisation and cross-genre collaborations. Concerts take place in the halls of Cankarjev dom and in the adjacent park, and the opening night is usually held at the Križanke outdoor theatre. After the concerts there are jazz sessions in clubs in the city centre.
The festival is recognized by the European network of jazz festivals, which has awarded it for the boldness of its programming. The audience combines specialists and people enjoying early-summer evenings in the capital’s centre.
It’s worth the trip for jazz lovers who want to hear live music at a long-established festival in a compact historic centre that you can walk across between concerts.
The opening night at the Križanke outdoor theatre. Concerts in the halls of Cankarjev dom. Performances in the park next to Cankarjev dom in the late afternoon. Jazz sessions after the concerts in clubs in the centre.
Buy tickets in advance for the most sought-after concerts, especially the opening. Cankarjev dom and Križanke are a few minutes’ walk from each other and from the old town. Early-summer evenings are usually pleasant, but it can rain: bring a light jacket for the outdoor concerts.
Check the official website for the dates and the programme for the year, which change with each edition. The dates coincide with the start of the summer season and with other events in the city, so accommodation in the centre sells out early.
In the city
June/July
May/JuneFor about two weeks, from late May to early June, during the flowering season of Bohinj’s meadows.
In late spring, Bohinj, in the heart of Triglav National Park, devotes two weeks to the flowers of the Julian Alps, with guided botanical walks, exhibitions, workshops, and restaurant menus featuring wild plants from the valley.
JuneOn the third weekend of June, from Friday to Sunday.
On the third weekend of June, Idrija, the former mining town in western Slovenia, celebrates bobbin lace with exhibitions, fashion shows, workshops and the national contest for young lacemakers in the main square.
June/July/August/SeptemberDuring the summer, from June or July until the beginning of September.
Created in 1953, the Ljubljana Festival fills the capital’s summer with opera, ballet, symphony concerts, theater and folk music, in the Križanke courtyard, the former monastery remodeled by Jože Plečnik, and at Kongresni trg square.
Your questions
For a few days in June or July. Dates vary each year; check the official programme.
Mainly in the halls of Cankarjev dom and in the adjacent park, and at the Križanke outdoor theatre in the centre of Ljubljana.
Festivals and events in Slovenia
June/JulyFor about nine days, beginning in late June and ending in early July.
At the start of summer, the Lent neighborhood, the old bank of the Drava in Maribor, and the central squares host Slovenia’s largest outdoor festival, with concerts on downtown stages, folklore, street theatre, and children’s programming.
JulyOn a weekend in mid-July, usually from Thursday or Friday to Sunday.
Since 1964, the small town of Laško, on the banks of the Savinja River, celebrates its beer and its flowers in July, with concerts on several stages in the town center, a parade of decorated floats, marching bands and fireworks over the river.
February/MarchOn the days before Lent, in February or March depending on the date of Easter, ending on Shrove Tuesday. The duration varies according to the program.
Slovenia’s largest carnival takes over Ptuj’s old town: the kurenti, figures dressed in sheepskins with horned or feathered masks and large bells at the waist, parade alongside other traditional regional characters to drive away winter.
February/MarchOn the Sunday and Tuesday of Carnival, which fall between early February and early March according to the Easter calendar; the laufarji begin to appear in the streets on the preceding Sundays.
In Cerkno, in the hills of western Slovenia, the laufarji—figures wearing carved wooden masks—parade through town at Carnival and stage the trial and execution of the Pust, the moss-covered figure who carries the year’s misfortunes.
MarchIn March, from Thursday to Sunday, at the event that closes the Ski Jumping World Cup season.
Every March, the Planica valley, near Kranjska Gora, hosts the final stage of the Ski Jumping World Cup, held on the Gorišek Brothers’ flying hill, one of the largest in the world.
AprilOn a weekend in April, usually after Easter and before the May 1 public holiday.
For a weekend in April, the old town of Radovljica, near Bled, turns into a large chocolate showcase, with producers from across the country, tastings, workshops and demonstrations at Linhartov trg square and the town manor.