The first AVNOJ Fest will be held in Jajce from November 25th to 30th, 2025. The festival brings a contemporary artistic approach to marking the anniversary of the Second Session of AVNOJ, and the official opening of the festival and the photo exhibition “And After Tito – Tito” by Milomir Kovacevic Strasni is scheduled for Tuesday, November 25th. Through a rich artistic program, within which the concert of the Slovenian group Laibach, scheduled for November 29th, stands out in particular, the first AVNOJ Fest aims to strengthen the culture of remembrance, promote the values of peace and freedom, and affirm Jajce as the anti-fascist capital of Europe. The main organizer of the festival is the Public Institution Museum of the Second Session of AVNOJ in Jajce.
Presenting the first AVNOJ Fest as a modernized continuation of the traditional “Days of AVNOJ,” which have been held in Jajce since 2008, the director of the Museum of the Second Session of AVNOJ in Jajce and the chairman of the festival’s organizing committee, Elvedin Imamovic, emphasized that the importance of this festival lies not only in its cultural and historical context. “The festival also plays an important role in developing Jajce’s tourism potential, because its content extends the tourist season and attracts visitors at a time of year when the city is less visited. In this way, we contribute to revitalizing cultural tourism, strengthening the local economy, and promoting Jajce as a center of anti-fascist tradition and cultural exchange in the region,” said Imamovic, adding that he believes AVNOJ Fest will become a recognizable cultural brand of Jajce and an event that will continue to bring together people from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and beyond.
In the rest of the program of the 1st AVNOJ Fest, on November 26th, the book “Battle on Sutjeska – Hell in Paradise” by author Simun Cimerman will be presented, followed on November 27th by the opening of the exhibition “Yugo.Logo – Graphic Identification in Yugoslavia” by visual authors Ognjen Rankovic and Antonio Karaca. The next day, November 28th, the audience will have the opportunity to watch the film “Blum – Masters of Their Own Destiny” by director Jasmila Zbanic. On Saturday, November 29th, marking the 82nd anniversary of the Second Session of AVNOJ in Jajce, a flower-laying ceremony and a formal academy are planned, as well as a panel discussion “AVNOJ 4.0 – Rebranding AVNOJ,” which will open discussions on modern approaches to the culture of remembrance. The festival will conclude on November 30th with an organized tour of the cultural-historical and natural sites in Jajce connected with AVNOJ.
“The group Laibach was once accused in the Bosnian media of breaking up Yugoslavia. Now, at a historic site, in the very heart of Yugoslavia’s birth, they will perform a special program that could disprove those claims,” emphasized in his address Ivan Novak, a member of the Slovenian group Laibach. Tickets for the Laibach concert are available through the karter.ba service.
Speaking about the importance of commemorating the Second Session of AVNOJ for the town of Jajce and its residents, the mayor of the Municipality of Jajce, Edin Hozan, recalled the historical role of this event in shaping the future of BiH. “The Second Session of AVNOJ directed the course of history in this region, especially regarding BiH and its peoples. It is very important that we never stop promoting anti-fascism and reminding young generations of the dangers of fascism, because that ideology always tries to return. We are proud that Jajce remains a place that preserves anti-fascist values and an important point of cultural and historical memory in BiH,” said Hozan, particularly emphasizing the touristic importance of this event and the AVNOJ Museum, which enriches the offer and contributes to the city’s development.
“This festival is a vital step in transforming the traditional commemoration of a major historical date into a contemporary artistic platform that uses culture as a bridge to younger generations. In a time when we increasingly face revisionism and forgetting, our goal is to remind of the values of freedom, tolerance, and unity that are woven into the very foundations of European anti-fascism,” concluded Nedim Lipa, a member of the organizing committee of AVNOJ Fest.
The first AVNOJ Fest is organized by the Public Institution Museum of the Second Session of AVNOJ in Jajce, with the support of the Municipality of Jajce, the Ministry of Education, Youth, Science, Culture and Sports of the Central Bosnia Canton (CBC), SUBNOR of BiH, the group Laibach, the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in BiH, the Public Institution Cultural Center Jajce, the Public Utility Company Cistoca i zelenilo Jajce, and Visit Jajce.
