President Milanović in Omiš at Final Evening of Dalmatian Klapa Festival
On Saturday, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović attended the final evening of the 58th Dalmatian Klapa Festival, featuring performances by men’s klapagroups. This event is traditionally held annually in the coastal town of Omiš.
The programme began with a joint performance of the song Pismo moja, hrli tamo by the klapa groups participating in the final evening. This performance was in honour of maestro Duško Tambača, one of the most prolific contributors to the Dalmatian Klapa Festival, who passed away earlier this year.
At the final evening of the men’s klapa at the 58th Dalmatian Klapa Festival “Omiš 2024,” the winner was Klapa Bošket from Zagreb. The expert jury awarded Klapa Bošket the Golden Shield, featuring the historical coat of arms of the town of Omiš. The audience also gave the most votes to Klapa Bošket, awarding the Zagreb-based klapa the Golden Leut (a historical boat type).
The Silver Shield, featuring the historical coat of arms of the town of Omiš, and the Silver Leut, awarded by audience votes, went to the Slovenian Klapa Dalmari from Maribor, repeating the outcome from last year’s finals. Third place, with the Bronze Shield featuring the historical coat of arms of the town of Omiš, went to Klapa Vinčace from Novi Vinodolski. The Bronze Leut, the third audience award, was presented to Klapa Batuda from the neighbouring community of Dugi Rat.
The final evening of performances by men’s klapa groups highlights the historical town of Omiš and its nearly six decades of nurturing the original klapa singing. Since 1967, the festival has aimed to preserve the original allure and essence of authentic klapa singing, an intangible cultural heritage inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
President Milanović was accompanied in Omiš by Zdravko Zima, Special Adviser to the President of the Republic for Culture.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas