Skopje Summer Evenings: June 29, 2012

Skopje Summer 2012 (Скопско лето 2012) began June 21 and runs through July 31.  Skopje Summer is 40 evenings of entertainment consisting of concerts, folk dancing, theater performances, and gallery/museum art openings.  The mostly free entertainment begins at 8:30 or 9:00 pm which is when the thought of going outside finally becomes tolerable.  The nights are crowded with families and couples strolling around enjoying the cooler, evening temperatures.

While some of the entertainers are local, many come from abroad.  On the second night of the festival we saw a performance by the International Students' Folklore Festival that included groups from Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Montenegro.

   

 Albania

   

Macedonia

   

Bosnia 

   

Montenegro

   

Serbia

In the old city part of Skopje there are several ancient caravansaries (called An in Macedonia) that have been converted into restaurants or performance spaces.  A caravansary is a rectangular or square shaped building with an open courtyard.  The surrounding buildings were once used to house travelers and their animals.  

Kuršumli An during the Macedonian Documentary Film Festival

Last week at Suli An we saw a Macedonian choir and a Turkish choir from the University of Marmara.  Suli An is a beautiful setting for concerts.  It is smaller than Kuršumli An.  On that particular night, the weather was quite threatening with thunder, lightening, and some brief downpours.  The concert carried on despite the drama of the weather.  Tonight we saw another performance at Suli An.  It was a Turkish group with a singer, two harpists, and a percussionist.  Suli An is also the home of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje.

One of the performances at Suli An

At least until July 31 there are a lot of evening diversions to keep us entertained.  And, Duran Duran comes to Skopje on July 7.