History of Guca Festival

The traditional Dragacevo trumpet - its cult kept alive for nearly two centuries regardless of political and social considerations - has with time become world-renowned. It is owing to the trumpet that the name of Serbia has resounded worldwide, in all the continents. Some orchestras, when they appear on stage, whether for official competition national dress, the authentic and indigenous dances and other folk inspired elements, coupled with music, have become an integral part of national gathering.

The virtuoso music performers, the trumpet players to the paradox and make the story more authentic - are for the most part fully self-taught. They play by ear and quite spontaneously, relying on their musical memory; they play from the heart and soul, and their music reaches out to listeners precisely for this quality. The Gucha Assembly of Trumpet Players continues to grow year after year: today, this musical feast of recognizable national skills is more popular, more diverse and bigger than ever before.

The first Dragacevo Assembly of Trumpet Players was held on October 16, 1961 in the yard of the Church of Sts. Michael and Gabriel in Gucha. Initially, it was a very modest Assembly - almost subversive for the prevailing political circumstances of that time. However, the Assembly gradually grew and expanded its, one might say, magical influence, and over the past ten or so years has become the folk remained its key symbol and raison detre, it is no longer held solely for the trumpet players. It grew into an Assembly of toastmasters, painters, song "Sa Ovcara I Kablara", marks the beginning of the festival each year. Some church music festivals notwithstanding, the Assembly of Trumpet Players is the best know event of this kind extending uninterruptedly for 43 years and attracting guests and musicians alike from every continent. Trumpet players and folk song and dance groups from around the world deem it a great honor to be invited to the Assembly, and the number of v visitors increases with each coming year. The record was set in 2002, when Guca hosted in excess of 300.000 visitors.

With considerable experience in organizing Assemblies, today the traditionally hospitable Gucha has earned its place on the map of world music festivals, inviting high interest from ethno music lovers, and deservedly so. As an internationally recognized trumpet capital, and a singular corner of positive energy, a place with accumulated joy, gaiety and spontaneity, coupled with the piercing yet gentle sound of the trumpet, Gucha is a place of catharsis of the heart and soul while the festival lasts. All this is more than enough to attract visitors to Gucha each Mexico , Spain , Greece , Denmark , China and many other close or distant countries. The names of Boban Markovic, Milan Mladenovic, Ekrem Sajdic, Elvis Ajdinovic, Fejat and Zoran Sejdic have carried the glory of the Serbian trumpet across the world. Some 600,000 visitors are expected at the next, and 50th Assembly. That would be very impressive indeed, would it not?


Istorija

Guča je gradsko naselje u opštini Lučani u Moravičkom okrugu. U Guči se svake godine tradicionalno održava "Dragačevski sabor trubača". Guča se prvi put pominje u turskom katastarskom popisu iz 1476. godine. Guča kao centar zajednice naselja - subopštinski centar opštine Lučani po postanku je starije urbano naselje od Lučana. Bila je opštinsko, pa sresko mesto do 1955. godine da bi se svelo na opštinsko do 1962. godine, kada je ukinuta opština Guča i formirana opština Lučani sa sedištem u Lučanima.

Brass band Barka, Knjazevac

Orchestra Brass band “Barka”, Knjazevac

The Barka Brass Band comes from the small town of Knjazevac in eastern Serbia, near the Bulgarian border. With their black suits and hats, they look like they have escaped from the film The Blues Brothers. This dynamic brass ensemble’s finest achievement came last year with their victory at the Guča Trumpet Festival 2012, a kind of unofficial world championship for brass bands. Warning: this stuff is explosive!

Darko Dimitrijevic was born in Knjazevac in 1980. year. He began playing trumpet at the age of fifteenth year. He finished secondary music school in the class of Professor Mile Paunovic in Negotin. At the Academy of Music in Cetinje, completed undergraduate studies in the class of Professor Mladen Djordjevic, where along with a horn section and theoretically studied. He was engaged as first trumpet of the Montenegro Symphony Orchestra. He is currently employed in the “Symphony Orchestra of city Nis” as first solo trumpet. In addition to classical music, a great connoisseur of ethno sound from Balkan region, especially in Eastern Serbia, which is the theme of his new CD, which is in preparation.

Ivan Kostic was born in 1983 in Nis. He finish secondary school for machine technician in Knjazevac. Actively start to playing piano from 1997. Forming Orchestra Brass band “Barka” from Knjazevca, in 1998. years, he began playing the trumpet. Along with tenor horn, he playing acoustic drums and percussion. Awards and Recognition: With Orchestra Brass band “Barka” performed, except in Serbia, in many cities and countries around the world, where he won many awards. The biggest prizes won in competitions in Guca: In the category Youth Orchestras: second place twice time, and once first place. In the senior category, “The Golden Apple” the best band award for best performed folk dance. At the international Guca Trumpet Festival competition: the best band. Collaboration: The music band and Orchestra Brass band “Barka” has cooperation and joint appearances with orchestras ”Balkanika” Sanja Ilic and “Black and White World” by Dejan Pejovic.

Milos Velickovic was born in 1984 in Knjazevac. Milos finish secondary school for machine technician in Knjazevac. With music he deals since 1996, then began to play the accordion with keyboard. He forming Orchestra Brass band “Barka” from Knjazevca, in the 1998. year, when he started to play the trumpet. Awards and Recognition: With Orchestra Brass band "Barka" he has performed at many events, festivals in Serbia, in many cities and countries around the world and won many awards. The biggest prize was in competition in Guca like the youngest band: 2004. and 2005.,  second place, and in 2006. he won first place. In the senior category: 2011 he won “The Golden Apple” award for the best band in 2012 and the award for Best performed round. At the international competition: 2013. his band get award for the best Guca Brass band. Collaboration: He has cooperation with many famous musicians and composers, and had the honor to be with orchestra “Balkanika” of composer Sanja Ilic.

Dejan Petkovic was born in 1985. in Knjazevac. Elementary and secondary school ended in Knjazevac and at the moment he study the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade. Music deals than in 1998. year, on their own initiative and with the support of friends. Also he is one of the founders of Orchestra Brass band "Barka" in which he began playing bass. Awards and honors: Awards at Guca Competition in 2006. year, the award for the best original Guca music in 2011., the best Guca Brass band in 2012, as well as awards for world best international band at the Guca Trumpet competition in 2013. year. With the Orchestra Brass band “Barka” successfully wins many competitions in Eastern Serbia, since 2009. year. From individual award, he won the best bass musician in front of the trumpet players in Eastern Serbia. Collaboration: Under the direction of Professor Darko Dimitrijevic successfully working on the new CD for the music band of Sanja ilic.

Ivan Milenkovic was born in 1983. in Knjazevac. Elementary music school ended in Knjazevac. Secondary music school in Negotin. In elementary school, his first musical direction was harmonica, and later musical direction trumpet. After he ended secondary school, Ivan has began playing with Orchestra Brass band “Barka”. Awards and Recognition: With the Orchestra Brass band “Barka” successfully wins many competitions, except in Serbia, in many cities and countries around the world and he won many awards. The greatest awards are on the Trumpet Festival in Guca. In the category Youth Orchestras: second place twice time, and one time first place. In the senior category, he won “The Golden Apple” award for the best band and award for best performed folk dance. At the international competition he won award for best Brass band.

Milan Stanisic was born in 1986. in Knjazevac. He finished secondary school, technician for  construction, in Knjazevac. Music deals since 1995., when he began playing drums. With a Orchestra Brass band "Barka" starts cooperation since 2009. year. Awards and Recognition: With Orchestra Brass band "Barka" performed at many music events in Serbia, Europe and worldwide. With the orchestra has won many awards in Guca Trumpet Festival: Award for etno playing in 2011., award for the best brass band in 2012, award for best international brass band in the world in 2013. From individual award he won award for the best drummer in the pre-competition in Trumpet Festival in Eastern Serbia in 2012.

Mladen Velickovic was born in 1987. in Knjazevac. He finished secondary school, technician for  construction in Knjazevac. Music deals start in 1998., when he began playing in the Orchestra Brass band “Barka” from Knjazevca. With the orchestra has performed in many musical events and festivals in Serbia. Awards and Recognition: With Orchestra Brass band “Barka” won many awards in Guca: In the category Youth Orchestras: 2004. and 2005., the second place, in 2006. he won the first place. In the senior category: 2011. get the award “The Golden Apple” for the best brass band of 2012, and the award for Best performed round. At the international competition he get award in 2013. for the best brass band in the world. From individual prizes awarded for the best tenor in Eastern Serbia in 2001.

Dejan Dimitrijevic was born in Knjazevac in 1984. year. After he finished secondary school in Knjazevac, Dejan continued their education in Nis, on Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Transportation, where in 2007 he received the degree of traffic engineers. Music starts practicing in his fifteenth year. He finished elementary music school, in the class of Professor Dobrivoja Krstic. Dejan later switched to tenor and started playing in the Orchestra Brass band “Barka”. Participate on all competitions in Guca since 1998.  Dejan won many prestigious music awards. He has performed in concerts all over Serbia, Europe, and in festivals in Asia and Africa.

  

 

Saban Bajramovic

Saban Bajramovic is the most prolific and the most celebrated Roma singer, composer and poet in the Balkans. Among thousands of articles and studies written throughout the world about this author, there is not a single one which does not link his name with the expression "The King of Roma music".

Saban Bajramovic was born on April 16, 1936 in Nis (Serbia). He almost did not attend the school while picking up musical education, alike many of his people, on street.

When he was nineteen, he deserted the army because of love, and later was sentenced to three years imprisonment at the Goli Otok isolation facility on an island in the Adriatic sea. However, as he told the military court that there was no sentence long enough for him to serve it, the sentence was extended to five and a half years.

However, while serving his sentence at the Goli Otok facility, Šaban Bajramović founded a prison band which played, among other music, jazz, Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra songs, as well as Spanish and Mexican melodies. Nowadays, he says that Goli Otok was his life-university, where he formed the way he thinks. He made his first record in 1964, and nowadays, his discography consists of some twenty albums and more then fifty singles. He wrote and composed, as he said, about seven hundred songs. For more than twenty years, he has led “Crna Mamba” (Black Mamba), touring half of the world with the band. Upon invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, he visited India, where he was named for The King of the Gypsy World Music.

Guča Photo Gallery

Photo Gallery - Guca Trumpet Festival

Every year we have an open competition for the best photo. Some of the photos of our guests and site visitors you can see here in the gallery. If you have some of your photos, please send on our email address: guca@booking-hotels.biz; Phone: +381-64-555-8581;

Your photos you can send on our email address: guca@booking-hotels.biz Phone: +381-64-555-8581;

Following the trace of Serbian spirituality

Following the trace of Serbian spirituality
Day 1th: Arrival to Belgrade. Meeting of passengers and representatives of the agency at the airport Nikola Tesla - Belgrade. Transfer to the hotel. Spare time. Overnight.

Day 2nd: Breakfast. Route: Belgrade - Vrnjačka Banja [spa].

Sanctum places of Serbian capital [St. Petka Chapel and Church Ružica, Orthodox Church and Patriarch's residence, St. Sava's Temple, the biggest Orthodox Temple in the Balkans]. Departure to Vrnajčka banja. Visit to the Monasteries Pokajnica, Manasija, and Ravanica; lunch in the monastery. Arrival to Vrnajčka banja. Accommodation. Overnight.

Day 3rd: Breakfast. Route: Vrnajčka banja - Monasteries Žiča, Ljubostinja, Kalenić - Vrnjačka Banja. Lunch is planned in Monastery Kalenić. Visit to the open - air Museum "Kalenić" and familiarizing with the old Serbian crafts: weaving, spinning, knitting, basket weaving. Presentation of the national architecture and traditional usable objects. Return to Vrnjačka Banja. Accommodation. Overnight.

Day 4th: Breakfast. Spare time. Route: Vrnjačka Banja - Monastery Studenica. Visit to Monasteries Djurdjevi Stupovi, Sopoćani. Arrival to Monastery Studenica. Lunch. Accommodation in the Monastery's residential building and presence to the evening prayer. Overnight.

Day 5th: Breakfast in the Monastery residential building. Route: Studenica - Ovčar banja [spa] - Ovčarsko - Kablarska Gorge - Valjevo

Visit to Monastery Gradac [long hiking tour] and St. Peter's Church on the way to Ovčar Banja. Arrival to Ovčar banja. Lunch in the national restaurant. Visit to the Monasteries of Ovčarsko - Kablarska Gorge: Vavedenje [Presentation of the Virgin], Vaznesenje [Resurrection], Sretenje [Meeting of Our Lord in the Temple], Svete Trojice Blagovestenje [Annunciation of Holy Trinity], Ilinje, Savinje, Nikolje, Jovanje i Uspenje [Dormition]. Departure to Valjevo. Accommodation. Overnight.

Day 6th: Breakfast. Route: Valjevo - village Sitarice - Valjevo.
Petnica cave, Research Center in Petnica. Visit to the old city center Tešnjar, Muselin's konak [hist. castle, palace], the monument of the greatest Serbian army commander Živojin Mišić, and the monument of poetess Desanka Maksimović]. Visit of the Monasteries Ćelije and Lelić in which are the relics of the Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović, the Orthodox theologian and writer from 20th century. Visit to the Monastery Pustinja from 14th century, built during the rule of the Nemanjić royal family.

Visit to the village Sitarice on the hillsides of Medvednik Mountain. This is the place with traditional, old Serbian houses, outbuildings, folklore, customs and traditional dishes of Serbian cuisine are preserved and cherished. In the yard of an old authentic village house, Serbian dining table brimming with national dishes and drinks, traditional Serbian host, songs and dancing typical for this part of Serbia, welcomes guests. Return to the hotel. Overnight.

Day 7th: Breakfast. Route: Valjevo - Soko Grad - Monastery Tronoša - Tršić - Belgrade
Departure from Valjevo. Arrival to Soko Grad and visit to the Monastery Complex of "Soko Grad". Short break. Departure to Monastery Tronoša and Trsić. Visit to the Monastery Tronoša and monastery residential building. Visit to the Ethnographic Commemorative Park and Commemorative House dedicated to the father of Serbian literacy Vuk Stefanović Karadžić in Tršić. Lunch break and individual activities. Departure to Belgrade in the evening. Accommodation in the hotel. Overnight.

Day 8th: Breakfast. Transfer to the airport; departure.

Zoran Hristic - Pecat Dragaceva

Ljubazno zamoljen da napišem nešto o Dragačevu, odnosno o Saboru trubača (pa zar to nije jedno te isto!), našao sam se u čudu, jer to je slično kao kada bi me neko zamolio da napišem ljubavno pismo! Međutim, ipak ima logike. Dragačevo, Guča, sabor, pesma i ritam moje su stare ljubavi.

Kada se piše o ljubavi, biraju se reči, dovoljno lepe da se zaboravi svakodnevica, da se utone u nešto nalik na san i izbegava se reč ''ali'', jer sreću ''saborišta'' ne sme ništa da pokvari. Čovek se, po prirodi stvari, vraća onome što voli...

Zaljubljenik Sabora ima tu sreću da to može da čini svake godine, da to jedva čeka svake godine, a da pri tome u slavlju i pravim salvama zvuka zaboravi da je još jednu godinu stariji. I tako svake godine čeka ga jedna umivena, nasmejana i trešteća Guča, koja ga slatko umori, promukne, ''budilicom'' razbija mamurluk, natera ga na radost i razmazi srećom.

Provodeći vreme po zagušljivim studijama za snimanje muzike, žvaćući muku svoga posla, u svome nemiru često se setim Guče i njenog zvuka od iskona. Tada shvatim koliko tome pripadam, odakle sam i gde ću biti. U retkim časovima prividnog mira i ne pokušavam da nađem zvuk iz Guče, on sam nadolazi kao obeležje jednog naroda. Sabor u Guči je pečat Dragačeva i prsten našeg venčanja sa trubom.

Truba u Dragačevu nikada ne svira ''krivo'', jer dostaojanstvo ljudi nameće pravila ponašanja zvuka, koji se tri dana rasplamsava do onog ''prometejskog trenutka'', kada nam se od veličanstvenosti zajedničkog sviranja ''Sa Ovčara i Kablara'' izmiče tle pod nogama, pali krv u venama i stiskaju pesnice u slavu naše ljubavi prema slobodi.

Zoran Hristic
Otvaranje 9. Sabora 1978.

Guca - The Best Serbian festival

Guca - The Best Serbian festival

Every year in August the sleepy town of Guca turns into a big party, the air is filled with the sound of trumpets and smell of grilled meat, streets with dancing and drinking people... More than 600,000 visitors make their way to the town of 2,000 people, both from Serbia and abroad. This is the best Serbian festival considering that Exit festival visit about 150.000 people and Guca Trumpet Festival in 2012 visit 600.000 people., and in 2013 about 450.000 people.

Elimination heats earlier in the year mean only a few dozen bands get to compete. Guca's official festival is split into three parts. Friday's opening concert, Saturday night celebrations and Sunday's competition. Friday's concerts are held at the entrance to the official Guca Festival building. This event features previous winners, each band getting to play three tunes while folk dancers, all kitted out in bright knitting patterns, dance kolos and oros in front of a hyped-up audience.

An English party site, www.ThisIsTheLife.com, has named Guca the best festival in the world.

Forget Glastonbury, Reading, Burning Man and Coachella: "The wildest music festival on earth is a cacophonic and crazy brass band festival that takes place every summer in the tiny Serbian town of Guča in the western region of Dragacevo".