The famous Slama festival was such a success this year! Despite changing the location of the event, Slama was a great hit with the people of Bilje, and also with those that came from all parts of Baranja to participate in the festival.
This year, Bilje’s beautiful scenic atmosphere was the main attraction of the festival. Situated in the region of Baranja, Bilje lies between the Danube and Drava rivers. Being so close to the water, it was great to see the people battling the heat by taking a refreshing dip in the river.
The Discover Slavonia team took up the role as volunteers for the festival this year. Being a team of eight people, we all put in our utmost effort to learn the art of creating straw sculptures. With the help of the founder of Slama, Nikola Faller, we learned how to make such sculptures by using his special skills and techniques. Faller, however, taught us more than simply creating sculptures. He taught us how to be generous and kind, and how to put all differences aside in order to work as a team. His generosity and friendship was a reflection of all those that took part in Slama. This festival showed just how important it is to embrace one’s own culture and heritage.
For the 12th anniversary of Slama, the founders of the festival chose astrology and the Zodiac signs to be the theme of this year’s event. With all the volunteers’ help, twelve large sculptures were created - each sculpture representing a different Zodiac sign. It’s amazing to think that such beautiful sculptures were created by using just wood, string and straw!
At the festival, hundreds of people gathered and participated in all the different workshops and activities that were prepared. Seeing the joy in the eyes of the children and their families was such a rewarding feeling after putting such hard work into preparing for the festival! There were mazes made out of straw for the children, stalls with handmade material, and even an astrological therapist who gave people an insight of their zodiac sign! As the night progressed, more and more people gathered around the main sculpture. It was purely handmade and was erected at the centre of the venue. There was also a performance about the zodiac signs, which gave all those who attended some knowledge on the theme. There were dancers, actors, fire acts and rituals. And for the final touch, the biggest sculpture at Slama was burned to the ground, as an annual tradition. The sculpture burned as bright as ever, until it all came down and left the people simply with ashes to remember.
Slama festival left everyone with the reminder that you must always stay in touch with nature, and respect the environment around you. Year after year, Slama invites people of all ages to come and participate; and best of all, being a volunteer made the Discover Slavonia team feel at home with the Croatians. Despite the different nationalities, everyone set aside their differences in order to create one beautiful event; and this is another lesson that was learnt from Slama.
