Lovran
April 4th to April 12th 2009
9th ASPARAGUS FESTIVAL
During the traditional Lovran Asparagus Festival, many restaurants and taverns in the area will offer meals featuring asparagus.
On the Final Events day the traditional Asparagus Feast will be held, as well as the Liburnia Accordion Festival, planned music program and raffle. Later in the evening, a giant frittata will be made in a two meters diameter frying pan with 1000 eggs and 30 kg of wild asparagus.
April 11th at main square – Final Party – large pan of fried eggs with wild asparagus and the 4th Gathering of Liburnija Accordion Players
Combine your Easter vacation in Lovran or Opatija with this amazing and unique event. Enjoy traditional specialties of Kvarner cuisine!
Have you ever been to Lovran? It is a small place near Opatija with a long tradition in tourism, but every year in February it also turns into a wild kingdom of masked creatures and carnival parties. It is time for you to visit and see what we are talking about! Here is the program of this year’s Lovran carnival:
The best known Lovran gastronomic manifestation is a real feast for all gourmands. Cakes, pastry and other dishes made of chestnuts (called “maruni” in the local dialect), are prepared from old local recipes and offered to many present guests. Since the year 1973, a manifestation called Marunada has been traditionally taking place every year in the small town of Lovran and has turned into a real tourist attraction in time. For the “uninformed” readers, this is a folk festivity linked to picking chestnuts that are plentiful in the forests surrounding Lovran and part of the Opatija Riviera. Every year in the month of October Lovran is full of chestnuts, when along with entertainment programmes in Lovran restaurants and cafes of hotels “Excelsior” and “Lovran” and in the old town streets, a rich gastronomic display of chestnut sweets and cakes is provided. At the end of October every year, cafes in nearby Opatija “Grand Café Paris” and “Continental” are also full of chestnuts, offering a great variety of sweets prepared from this delicious fruit. The Marunada ends traditionally with the formal hunters’ ball which is held in the Lovran Hotel “Excelsior”. This year the Marunada starts October 8th and ends October 26th. Visit Lovran and enjoy in many delicious gastronomic specialities and a rich cultural and entertainment programme.
Lovran is a small town situated on the western coast of the Kvarner Bay. Lovran is one of the oldest coastal settlements on the eastern shore of Istrian peninsula. By the early middle Ages it was an important urban and shipbuilding center of northern Adriatic. Following the sudden development of port towns in the vicinity which became the new and dominant urban centers in the region, Lovran lost its significance. However, by the mid 19th century, the area gains prominence as it becomes a fashionable resort of Austro-Hungarian nobility. The long tradition of tourism is still strongly felt in the Lovran region, and it forms the backbone of the economy. The region is rich with cultural-historical heritage. A parish church with medieval frescoes and Glagolitic inscriptions, and the 14th century tower of St George’s Square within the old urban core, as well as rural ambiances and architectural edifices – namely many old villas with surrounding parks, are general points of interest. Tourists who visit Lovran can also enjoy in many beaches, long walks down the lungomare walking path and climbing to the top of the Ucka mountain.