The Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra has a concert tonight in the atruim of the Rector's Palace. Nikolina Pinko will perform as a soloist. The orchestra will be conducted by Christopher Campestrini and the concert is held as a part of International Late Summer Music Festival Dubrovnik.  The start of the concert is at 9 pm.

The concert will begin with Mendelssohn's overture The Hebrides, and Haydn's Symphony no. 88 in G major. For the first time, the work Les Illuminations by Benjamin Britten will be performed in Dubrovnik, in which soprano Nikolina Pinko will perform as a soloist. Benjamin Britten is one of the most significant composers and pianists of contemporary English music. He was a big fan of Dubrovnik where he performed in the Dubrovnik Summer Festival in 1961.

Soprano Nikolina Pinko is the winner of many awards at domestic and international singing competitions. At the Croatian National Theater, she debuted as Donne Anne in the opera of Don Giovanni (W.A.Mozart) and at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival in the opera Cosi fan tutte (W.A.Mozart) for which she also received an award in 2013. For several years she has been collaborating with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and over the years has performed with maestros Uros Lajovic, Christoph Campestrini, Noorman Widjaj and others.

The sea quality in Mlini, located in Zupa Dubrovacka Muncipality, is currently not up to standard. There has been a short-term pollution of the sea with faecal waters.

According to the announcement of the Public Health Institute of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, from September 15th this year, during the ninth quality survey it was established that the results of sea analysis on the Mlini beach exceed the limit values for the microbiological parameter of Escherichia coli.

Sampling will be repeated until the contamination is over. Since the sample of the sea currently does not meet the requirements of the Regulation due to contamination of faecal origin, it is not recommended to swim in Mlini until further notice.

The latest Quality of Nationality Index (QNI) published annually by Henley&Partners shows that Croatia has achieved the best score ever since the research has been conducted.

According to the QNI, ranking of nationalities based on the levels of freedom and quality of life citizens enjoy Germany's quality of nationality remains the first in the world for the sixth year in a row. France and Denmark share the second place, whilst Iceland placed as the third.

As far as Croatia is concerned, the country has made a huge step forward; out of 159 countries, Croatia is the 30th by the Quality of Nationality Index and entered the Very High Quality class. Even though Croatia is at the bottom of the EU member countries list, at the global level it is right behind the US and is ranked better than Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

''Although Croatia is the worst ranked country among the EU member countries, it has made a big progress and entered the Very High Quality class primarily thanks to the access to the EU in 2013. Five years ago, the country placed as the 47th, however, now it is the 30th world country according to this index. This is the best ranking ever since the release of data'', commented Zvonimir Savic, the director of the Department for Financial Institutions, Business Information and Economic Analysis at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

The Top 30 list of countries with the best Quality of Nationality Index consists of all EU member countries along with Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and the US, primarily due to the large single market (with the undisturbed flow of people) within which the members are oriented towards each other.

The Quality of Nationality Index (QNI) is considered the world’s only objective measure of nationality. Researchers get data from the World Bank, the International Air Transport Association, and the Institute for Economics and Peace in order to estimate the opportunities and limitations based on an individual’s nationality. Each country accumulates points based on their economic prosperity, human development, political stability and the ease of travel and overseas employment opportunities for its citizens.

The TOP 10 nationalities in 2016 by the Quality of Nationality Index (QNI) are:
1.    Germany
2.    France and Denmark
3.    Iceland
4.    Sweden
5.    Norway
6.    Finland
7.    Austria and Italy
8.    The Netherlands
9.    Switzerland
10.    Spain.

The Eclipse yacht owned by Roman Abramovich got a ‘’helicopter removal’’ with a crane, as visible on photos and video by our reader. The helicopter was moved and transferred - where and why is still unknown, but it’s possible that it was damaged during the recent storm that hit Dubrovnik.

This luxurious yacht attracts attention wherever it goes and recently Abramovich hit the headlines of local websites for ordering around 750 tons of fuel for his beauty, which costs around million euros.

The super-long yacht of 163 meters worth 340 million euros was purchased by the Russian billionaire owner of Chelsea FC in 2010. It weights around 13 thousand tons, width is 21 meters and the annual maintenance costs are around 30 million euros. The yacht can host 62 guests and 70 crew members and it has swimming pools, saunas, movie theaters, jewelleries, hairdressing centers, kindergartens, restaurants, clubs and even a hospital.

More praise for the Dubrovnik tourist industry! A five-star luxury resort located in Orasac near Dubrovnik is one of the nominees for this year's Family Traveller Awards in the category of the Best European Hotel for Families.

After recent recognition at the 2017 World Luxury Spa Awards, and winning the Silver Award for the Best Family Hotel at the 2017 Junior Design Awards, the luxury resort Sun Gardens Dubrovnik is heading for a new award.

Family Traveller Awards is an event organized by the British luxury family magazine Family Traveller. This unavoidable multi-platform guide helps users in planning and organizing their family holiday.

Sun Gardens Dubrovnik is the only hotel from Croatia nominated for the Family Traveller Award, thus it has become part of the prestigious group of the most luxurious family hotels in Europe.

Apart from luxurious accommodation in residences and attractive facilities for a complete holiday and relaxation, the Sun Gardens resort offers a variety of activities for children of all ages, including special evening programs and childcare.

It is interesting to note that the Sports Academy for children between the age of 7 and 15 was introduced earlier this year in order to enable children to master or enhance their sports skills through fun and safe environment.

In addition to luxurious accommodation in 201 rooms within the hotel and 207 residences, the resort offers an award-winning spa centre, sports centre, 16 different bars and restaurants, a beach and three outdoor pools, and one of the best conference centres in the region.

Sun Gardens Dubrovnik is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, the prestigious luxury hospitality organization headquartered in New York, which represents more than 375 of the world’s finest hotels, resorts and spas.

For the fifth year in a row “Agrotourism” Konavle organizes a traditional manifestation called "Picking" - which symbolically marks the beginning of the grape harvest in Konavle.

The event will be held on Friday, 15th September at the Monastery of St. Blaise in Pridvorje starting at 2 pm. The program will begin by harvesting the monastery vineyards, followed by gathering the grapes of the Konavle winemakers and processing it in the traditional and contemporary way. The event will end with a lunch, good company, live music and folklore performance.

On this occasion, the old customs will be. As part of this year's event, the project "Poje – otrgnuti dio Konavala" will be promoted, whose first phase, the exhibition of photographs of young Konavle photographers Nino Durasa and Toni Mostahinic, author Olja Ljubisic, will be presented this Friday.

The Steora solar smart benches from Croatia successfully continue to conquer the world market.

This innovative product designed by young Ivan Mrvos from Solin near Split has already been introduced and placed all over Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Belgium, Slovakia, Denmark as well as in Hong Kong and in front of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg.  

After recent setting up the first smart bench in Dubai, bought by the local police, the same night Ivan Mrvos and his company Include received an order for five more benches for the largest city of the UAE.

According to the latest information from the Include company, the smart benches from Croatia have successfully entered the Swedish market. ‘’There are now 30 smart benches in 10 cities across Sweden’’, stated Include.

This green invention is ideal for cities, parks, airports, marinas, business and shopping centres. Their main goal is to raise human awareness about renewable energy and environmental protection.

The smart bench includes batteries, which are powered by solar panels; they provide internet access and the possibility to charge mobile phones and laptops by USB charger. It also gathers data about air quality, humidity, city noise, displays advertising, and provides light at night.

Interestingly Mrvos and his team developed their own battery system based on the model of Tesla Motors, which is famous for production of electric cars.

Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic, deputy mayor Jelka Tepsic and director of Dubrovnik Summer Festival Ivana Medo Bogdanovic presented the concept and program of this year's Dubrovnik Winter Festival on the press conference today.

Locals and their guests will enter the new 2018 with Dino Merlin, along with Songkillers and Pravila igre. The night before is reserved for Frajle and traditionally, on the first day of the New Year, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra will held a concert on Stradun, with oysters and sparkling wine.

Otherwise, the Dubrovnik Winter Festival begins on December 2nd with the performance of Zlatan Stipisic Gibonni in front of the Church of St. Blaise. Jacques Houdek, Croatian Eurovision contestant will also perform a few days later, just like Pavel and Massimo Savic.

Big Christmas concert will be held in collaboration with the Valamar group. It will take place in the Lacroma Hotel, on December 22nd. Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and Stijepo Gled Markos will perform, along with Dani Stipanicev and Marija Kuhar Sosa. They will be joined by vocal groups – Raugsa, Subrenum and Kase.

Organizers also announce that during the weekend there will be live music on several locations – at Brsalje, Gundulic Square and Prijeko.

During Advent and days before meeting New Year's Eve, various locations in the Old City  and in other parts of the city will offer a variety of cultural and entertainment content. For example, at the Pile park there will be a teddy bear, elves and other characters from child’s imagination. Orlando will traditionally wear a scarf of the Dubrovnik Winter Festival, but will be joined by Ivan Gundulic and Marin Drzic sculptures.