Celje Prepares to Travel Around the World with Its Biggest Adventurer

Celje will spend five days travelling through the life and legacy of Alma M. Karlin, one of the city’s most famous world travellers. The first Alma Festival will run from September 9 to 13, bringing culture, history, tourism and cuisine into streets and public spaces.

More than 50 public institutions, organisations, restaurants and associations have joined the programme. Visitors will be able to attend art workshops, film screenings, a concert, travel lectures and a sushi-making workshop. Sushi was chosen deliberately because Karlin stayed longest in Japan during her journey around the world.

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That Alma is connected with travel and curiosity.

The festival will open with a film under the stars at the lapidarium on the Savinja riverbank. Its official opening will follow the next day, with a screening of the docudrama “The Lonely Journey”, also the title of one of Karlin’s travel books.

Organisers have linked the festival to places associated with Karlin, including her statue on Krek Square, the permanent exhibition in the Old County Mansion, her memorial house in Pečovnik and the Savinja riverbank. Tourist guides will lead walks through “Alma’s Celje”, beginning at the statue in the city centre. Because the festival is outdoors, organisers have arranged alternative venues for more than half of the events. They hope the pilot project will become a tradition that connects residents across the city.

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We designed the programme as a flowing experience. Parents can leave their child at one event while they go and see something else.