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Five Reasons Why You Should Be In Makarska, Croatia Instead Of Reading This

Published Tue, 20 May 2014 19:00:00 -0500

By Emir Pasanovic, Bleeding Cool's Croatian Correspondent

After a break last year, caused mostly by lack of local support for what is the biggest comic book event in the region, Makarska Comic Book Festival comes back this year better than ever, lasting 19^th – 25^th May. For everyone who has read my previous text on the ever more popular MaFest, only thing I can add is that nothing much has changed, except for the lineup of the guests. For everyone else, here are 5 reasons why you should plan going to future (and maybe even this year's) MaFest:

1.Amazing comic book guests

Special guests of the 8th MaFest represent a great cross-section of comic book production around Europe, as well as the world. Of course, this was also the case in previous years, but what I would like to emphasise is the complete comic book nature of the festival. Everything is in the service of comic books, their creators and fans, and you will rarely see other media for entertainment purposes. All the guests are available to chat with or get FREE drawings from for the duration of the festival, and chats whether during official panels, or unofficial socializing on the beach are an experience not to be missed.

2.Brilliant organization

Other than the already mentioned FREE drawing sessions for the festival visitors, there are so many other parts of this festival's organisation year in and year out that need to be praised. Let's start with the location: Makarska is a beautiful, small town right between two of Croatia's major airports – Split and Dubrovnik – which are very well known to anyone who has ever gone to this part of the world. Makarska sports gorgeous, rocky beaches with plenty of noise and crowds during the summer season.

However, MaFest is set right before the season starts, and there are relatively few tourists that come to enjoy the sunshine and the sea – which is perfect for a festival that needs to help around 2000 people get accommodation and travel arrangements organized every year! And although the web site still needs a bit of work when it comes to the internationalization, contact page and e-mails are certain to bring answers to any questions you might have.

3.The Seaside

I mentioned the seaside, right? God, there is really nothing in Europe that even comes close to the Croatian Adriatic coast, and even though the sea is not as warm as it gets later on in the season, there is simply no way you can resist the clear blue water once you lay eyes on it. Also, as Makarska is not a busy urban center, there is nothing preventing you to just enjoy the sea air and sunshine while eating an ice-cream and sipping cocktails.

As you might have noticed, this atmosphere inspires most of MaFest guests when they decide to draw the official posters for the festival, but it is also important to emphasize that all festival events are only a stone's throw away from the beach.

4.Community building

The Festival was started as a social event for comic book fans from Makarska and Sarajevo 12 years ago, and it keeps growing. First we introduced the Serbs, then we introduced the Slovenians, then we introduced Macedonians and Montenegrins into our midst, and the numbers of regional fans continue to grow. And how could they not, as every year brings something new and even more exciting. This year, there will even be a speed-dating sort of event for local script writers and artists to connect.

This festival played a major role in reviving comic book publishing in ex-Yugoslavia, but as the number of publishers and publications rises every year, festival has turned its sight on international community building as well. That is why regional authors, such as Mirko Colak, get a chance to talk to major talent hunters every year, and this year will be the same: CB Cebulski will be there to review portfolios and offer contacts.

5.Original comic book art

Even though the comic book market is targeted to regional buyers and consists mostly of comics published in Serbian and Croatian, there is one event on Saturday, 24 May at 8:15pm that attracts everyone's attention. This is the usual time when the auction of original comic book art begins, and anyone with enough money in their pockets can walk away with anything from the art for this year's festival posters, to comic book pages and cover illustrations. All of the art is donated by the respective artists and the collected money goes to a worthy cause. Bidding rarely goes to more than £200, and this usually just for the official MaFest posters, which you had the pleasure of seeing alongside this text. Therefore, this year the lucky winners can go home carrying their own Punk Rock Jesus in Makarska, Batman on an anchor, and many many more.

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