Festival Lent is not only one of the oldest and largest open-air multi-genre festivals in this part of Europe, but also one of the most recognizable brands in Maribor.

Breaking the ground for Slovenian summer festivals in the XNUMXs, it boldly bet on a wide range of events for all generations and genres. Today, the rich festival programme also hosts the international CIOFF Festival Folkart, known for being one of the best and most attractive folklore festivals in the world; JazzLent, which attracts top names from the world of jazz and related music genres; Art Camp, a festival of creativity and curiosity for children and families; StandUpLent, an international stand-up comedy festival; and the street theatre festival Ana Desetnica, which brings the city’s streets and squares to life with performances by artists from around the world. It is therefore safe to say that Lent Festival truly is a festival of festivals. It has created a unique and recognisable organisational formula that successfully resists the tendency to make festivals more exclusive and commercialised, while consistently fulfilling its mission: to enable contact with culture to the widest possible audience. Its success is confirmed by the XNUMX million visitors who have attended its events spread across the city, stretching from the banks of the Drava River to the City Park. However, numbers are not the only measure of success. The true value of a festival lies in its ability to give everyone the chance to attend a free classical music concert, to allow parents to take their children to dedicated performances every evening without buying any tickets, and to offer people of all ages the chance to enjoy a diverse range of events or develop new skills in creative workshops, all free of charge. Places without such a festival best understand how much this is worth. Together with the founder of Narodni Dom Maribor, the Municipality of Maribor, and numerous sponsors and donors, Lent Festival has played a key role in transforming Maribor into a city worth visiting and living in. By hosting internationally recognised artists who ensure connections with major global cultural centres and creative currents (James Brown, Stéphane Grappelli, Ray Charles, B. B. King, José Feliciano, Chico Freeman, Les McCann, Maynard Ferguson, Kenny Wheeler, Brad Mehldau, Esbjörn Svennson, Omar Sosa, Al Di Meola, Jimmy Cliff, and Bob Geldof, Macy Gray, Mercedes Sosa, Paquito D’Rivera, Dr. John, Lester Bowie, David Byrne, Alfredo De La Fé, Alfredo Rodriguez, Malia, Maceo Parker, Femi Anikulapo Kuti, Manu Chao, Fatoumata Diawara, Ilhan Ersahin, Manu Katché, Richard Bona, Solomon Burke, Fred Wesley, Erik Truffaz, Hugh Masekela, Goran Bregović, Đorđe Balašević...), Maribor is developing into a modern and vibrant urban centre and an attractive destination for foreign visitors.