On the main state celebration
On Saturday, 24 June 2006, at 21.15 hrs, the main state celebration on the occasion of Slovenia's National Day will take place in Trg republike Square in Ljubljana.
The honorary speaker at will be the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša.
The commemorative event will begin at 21.15, and will be preceded by accompanying events and a ceremonial session of the National Assembly at 19.30, which will also be shown on a big screen in Trg republike. The celebration will echo the first such event from 1991, and will combine all forms of art, from high to popular culture.
The cultural programme has been devised by Katja Pegan, Patrik Greblo and Samo Milavec, and in addition to the RTV Symphony Orchestra, 250 people will contribute their talents to the event: poet Tone Kuntner, singers Ditka Haberl, Nuša Derenda, Darja Švajger, Janez Bončina - Benč, Slavko Ivančič, Andraž Hribar, Anika Horvat, Eva Hren, Tomaž Klepač and Boštjan Dermol, Fake Orchestra, The Session Band, guitarist Bor Zuljan, actors Dare Valič, Vojko Belšak and Rok Vihar and actress Mojca Fatur, the Tone Tomšič Academic Choir of the University of Ljubljana, the Veter mixed youth choir, and children's choir CiciDO from the music school of Zagorje, the Flip Piran acrobatic dance company and the Mojca Horvat Dancing School, dancers Rosana Hribar and Gregor Luštek, Dana Petretič and Siniša Bukinac, as well as ballet dancer Barbara Križaj, opera singer Marko Kobal, and tenors Matjaž Prah, Žiga Kasagić and Metod Žunec, and many others.
The event's director and scriptwriter Katja Pegan promises that 15 years of our young country which celebrates the strength, perseverance and spirit of its nationals, will be captured in the performances featuring singing, acting and dancing, all of which will be tied together with three short films. In addition to the documentary footage featuring historic events and the first ceremony (this year's ceremony imitates it in terms of location and multitude) shown in the first film, the second film portrays Slovenia through a series of characteristic natural landmarks and the achievements of Slovenian athletes, while the third film looks ahead, featuring fifteen-year-olds intensely involved with their dreams, speaking about their future as they see it. ''In short, this event is about youth and the future based on love, freedom, partnership and good intentions'', the director adds.
The accompanying programme at Trg Republike will begin at 19.00 and include performances by the Laško Brass Band with a majorette group, the Bežigrad Brass Band with the Ljubljana Majorette Group, combined brass bands: the Vrhpolje - Vipava Youth Brass Band and the 'Viktor Parma' Slovenian Association of Brass Bands from Trebče/Trieste with majorettes from Povir pri Sežani, the KD Logatec Brass Band Orchestra with the Logatec Majorette Group, the SVEA Zagorje Brass Band Orchestra with majorettes of the SVEA Twirling Club, the Flip Piran acrobatic dance company, the Slovenian Armed Forces Orchestra and the Police Orchestra.
The celebration will include the standard-bearers of the Slovenian Armed Forces, Slovenian Police, the Manoeuvre Structure of the National Protection Forces, the Association of Veterans of the War for Slovenia, the Sever Police Veterans Association, the Association of the War Veterans and the Participants of the National Liberation Struggle, the TIGR Primorska Association, and the Association of Commissioned Officers of Slovenia, and children born on 25 June 1991.
The Slovenian Armed Forces will participate with an honour-guard company firing a salute from Ljubljana Castle, and demonstrating some of their skills. The celebration will also be attended by the first echelon of the honour-guard company, who participated in 1991. During the Slovenian national anthem, a replica of the first Slovenian flag from 1991 will be raised.
The event will conclude with a firework display at the National Assembly building, and later from Ljubljana Castle.
The ceremony will be broadcast live by the RTV Slovenija.