The 5th European exhibition of Balkan breeds of pigeons and small animals will be held in Tešanj from January 11 to 14, where exhibitors from nine European countries will present themselves with more than 3,000 exhibits.
This will also be the 14th national and 24th intercity exhibition, and according to the organizers, this is not remembered in the post-war period of Bosnia and Herzegovina, given that the European Union gave itself the honor, but also the responsibility, of BiH organizers for such an event.
“We will show that it is possible to hold a quality event in the small town of Tešanj,” said the president of the association, Edin Jabandžić.
He added that at this event there will be a team of people who truly enjoy this hobby and that they will all come to Tešanj where they will have the opportunity to see the level of animal breeding in Tešanj and the Balkans compared to Europe.
“We will have a lot of foreign judges who will compare the criteria of our judges, so we will see where we stand in relation to Europe, which allocates a lot of money for this,” said Jabandžić and added that seven billion dollars are spent annually in the world on this hobby.
Judges come from BiH, Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Germany, Belgium and Austria who will judge 2,200 pigeons, 800 poultry, 150 rabbits and 150 birds.
“This is our opportunity for the exhibitors to be observed by European judges and to see where we are in Europe. All this is happening on the 25th anniversary of the Tešani association and this is a joy and honor for all of us that should have been earned. This is a matter of merit, trust and effort because the European Union will not give its name to everyone, if they are not convinced that someone will show what and how they are doing in Europe,” added Jabandžić.
Given that he himself exhibits in Europe, Jabandžić said that there is no difference in the love for this hobby, but there is in the approach. Europeans have much fewer individuals in their possession and pay more attention to them, while in BiH collectors have more individuals, but pay much less attention to them than collectors in European countries.
“Migrations brought the momentum of small animal breeding in Europe. Germany has areas where they are engaged in breeding small animals. Until 2010, there was a decline in interest because the old breeders started dying, and the young ones did not come in such numbers. Since 2017, the picture changes and we once again have a fight for every garden in Germany. In this hobby of ours, despite all the difficulties we face with the Internet and automation, there are still those who hang out with animals,” points out Jabandžić.
The exhibition will be held in the sports hall in Tesanj, and due to the great interest and the large number of exhibits, an assembly hall was additionally set up next to the hall. The grand opening is on January 12, and it will be open from January 11 to 14, Klix.ba writes.