Jajce – a great place to celebrate European diversity

This year’s Europe Day celebration in Bosnia and Herzegovina started on Monday in Jajce where people from more than BiH fifteen cities gathered together with the citizens of this historic city and t...

This year’s Europe Day celebration in Bosnia and Herzegovina started on Monday in Jajce where people from more than BiH fifteen cities gathered together with the citizens of this historic city and the representatives of the EU member states as well as other guests to enjoy both European and local cuisine and culture and celebrate European diversity.

As 2018 is the European Year of Cultural Heritage Jajce, a city rich with history and diverse cultural heritage, was the best choice to start the celebration.

This was also highlighted by Head of EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in BiH Ambassador Lars Gunnar Wigemark.

“Here, today, we want to celebrate our diversity in culture as Europeans. This is the year of Cultural Heritage for all of Europe and Jajce. It is good for all of us to be reminded, from time to time, about our common history and heritage. We all share much more than what divides us”, Ambassador Wigemark said during his speech.

Ambassador Wigemark also participated in a discussion on cultural heritage with representatives of cultural and tourism associations from this city.

Throughout the day the main city park was crowded with children and youth wearing cooking aprons and equipment as students from high schools from all over the country participated in a cooking show with two celebrity chefs from Romania and Italy.

Many guests visited the event throughout the day and tasted the European dishes cooked by student and Constantin Turculet from Romania and Maria Tolmina Ciriello from Italy. Spanish paella, Italian pasta, Romanian cat fish, British Shepherd’s pie, Polish pierogi, German Königsberger Klopse were combined with traditional dishes from BiH such as keške, hadžijski ćevap, baklava…

The first day of the Europe Day celebration ended at the famous Jajce waterfall when it was illuminated with the EU flag while a rock band from Mostar played “Ode to Joy”. In that moment BiH joined this year’s musical challenge, initiated by Europa Nostra #Ode2joy, the leading European cultural heritage organisation.