50TH DUBROVNIK SUMMER FESTIVAL BEGINS

DUBROVNIK, July 11 (Hina) - The 50th Dubrovnik Summer Festival began on Saturday night. The opening ceremony commenced with the Croatian national anthem performed by the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and choruses Libertas and Goranovac. Dubrovnik Mayor Vido Bogdanovic then welcomed Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, under whose auspices the festival is being held, and all who have in some way contributed to the festival's first fifty years. He invited President Tudjman to proclaim the festival open. #l# At the beginning of his speech on this occasion, President Franjo Tudjman addressed the organisers of the festival, and artists and guests. "There are moments, there are events when the entire history of a town and its people can be summed up. (...) This is such an event and this is the town of Dubrovnik," Tudjman stressed at the beginning of his speech. Famous all over the world for its grandeur, Dubrovnik is one of Adriatic towns which contributed very much to the development of Croatian culture during Humanism and Renaissance he said adding that he was glad to be here this evening and be able to share the elation of this ceremony. Commenting on the golden jubilee of the festival, Tudjman said the festival had been determined by the long history of Dubrovnik, its heritage and its material and spiritual achievements and by what one can call as the spirit of a town as well as by Dubrovnik's position in Croatian and world history. This town, first as a commune and subsequently as republic, has been the centre of the Croatian culture for centuries, and also the cradle and synthesis of the literature, Tudjman said. Dubrovnik is the city which has given birth to great scholars, scientists and writers such as Marin Drzic whose works preceded Moliere and Goldoni, as well as of legendary seamen and entrepreneurs. For centuries numerous ships of the Dubrovnik Republic sailed all over the world under the flag with just one word "Libertas- Freedom," Tudjman recalled. Eight centuries ago citizens of the Dubrovnik Republic were building Fort Lovrijenac with the carved inscription - Freedom should not be sold for the whole wealth of the world," Tudjman said adding that one of the greatest Croatian Renaissance writers, Ivan Gundulic, devoted fascinating verses to freedom. Dubrovnik is a town where the rule of law had been rooted since the early Middle Ages. In Dubrovnik, just as in other Croatian town the juridical system had been developed on the basis of local statutes and laws and sometimes it was even above the then European legal and political standards, the Croatian President told the present. He then recalled the recent history. When in the Homeland War the enemy, being aware that they would never manage to conquer this town, tried to raze it they did so also because they knew what Dubrovnik meant for Croats and for history of Croatia as well as of the world, Tudjman said. He pointed to the importance and suffering of the Croatian Baroque town of Vukovar and Renaissance town of Dubrovnik during the Homeland War. Tudjman added that the flag with the word Freedom (Libertas) would now be hoisted on Orlando's pillar for the 50th time and thanked Dubrovnik citizens for having succeeded in holding the Summer Festival during hard time in the Homeland War. Tudjman congratulated them on this jubilee and proclaimed the Festival open. After that actors performed excerpts from most popular works from the heritage of Dubrovnik literature and at the end of the ceremony, the Libertas flag was raised to Orlando's pillar where it will remain until the end of this summer's festival, 25 August. The completion of the ceremonial opening was marked by the ringing of bells of Dubrovnik churches. About 70 concerts and plays will be held during this event. Present at Saturday evening's ceremony were also Croatian Premier Zlatko Matesa, other senior officials, some MPs, Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban, several culture ministers from abroad, religious dignitaries and other guests. Dubrovnik citizens continued celebrating with a fireworks display, and on this occasion a concert was played on Skaline in front of the church of St. Blasius, the patron of the town. (hina) ms