June 20th 2025, Novo mesto
Intercultural Dialogue Association participated in the Week of Cultures festival (Teden kultur) in Novo mesto. We set up our own booth with handmade products and culinary delicacies.
We attended the festival of intercultural, artistic, and culinary delights, which was free for visitors. It took place from June 16th to 20th at the Main Square in Novo mesto. During the festival, local establishments serve dishes and drinks from various countries where the artists, who create the program, come from.
The festival attracts around two thousand visitors every year. They can become acquainted with and experience various cultures firsthand in one place. The Intercultural Dialogue Association represented the country of Turkey with handmade products and culinary specialties prepared by our volunteers.
At the booth, we also demonstrated and conducted a workshop with henna. Our volunteers delighted visitors by decorating their skin using dyes and practical stencils.
On Friday, after a series of events throughout the week, the so-called Party of all cultures took place, which, in addition to Slovenian, Macedonian, Albanian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Žumberak, Ukrainian, and Romani cultures, also featured stalls with delicacies from Indonesian, Turkish, Palestinian, and Nepalese cuisine.
The slogan of the festival this year was also ‘The more cultures, the bigger the party.’ The president of the Association for the Development of Voluntary Work in Novo mesto, Branka Bukovec, stated that they encourage coexistence of different cultures, tolerance, solidarity, volunteering, and charity throughout the year. This year’s festival also had a charitable aspect, as voluntary contributions were collected for a girl named Lora from Uršna sela at all six events of the festival Young local girl Lora needs gene therapy due to a severe and rare disease, for which her parents Rebeka and Jernej need to raise a million euros.
Event organizer: Society for the Development of Volunteer Work Novo mesto with partners City Municipality of Novo mesto, Krka, d.d., Novo mesto, Public Fund for Cultural Activities of the Republic of Slovenia, Goga Publishing House, Dolenjski Museum Novo mesto, Miran Jarc Library and Boter Institute.
