One of the points all of them agreed upon was that the importance of the Festival exceeds the city limits, as said the Maribor Mayor. The Minister said that he and the Mayor, "being aware of the importance of Lent for the northeast part of Slovenia, and the entire country, with its quality and diverse contents, agreed that the Ministry and the Municipality will provide the funds, at least in the planned amount."
It is a partner agreement, meaning "that the Municipality of Maribor will participate at least the funds in the equal amount the state will secure for the Festival", emphasized Grilc after the financial construction of the project was examined. He added that one of the mayor problems was the decrease in sponsor resources.
The proposal will be submitted to government for validation
After the meeting Fištravec said that the Municipality would form a plan, together with the Ministry, and submit it to the Government for validation. The minister assured that the expert services would start working today, while approximately three weeks are required for preparation of government material. It is not the Ministry intention to interfere with the program contents, but they intend to support mainly the programmes which are in public interest.
Infrastructural preparation would reduce annual costs
The Mayor perceives the solution for the future of Lent also within a comprehensive infrastructural preparation, by which the annual costs at the organisation of the Festival could be reduced. He announced that for this year the building of an indoor amphitheatre next to the puppet theatre is planned, which will serve as a festival scene.
The Manager of Narodni dom Maribor which is preparing the festival left the meeting optimistically, and he is also happy that finally a dialogue is established with the founder – the Municipality. "We haven't been expecting the funds immediately, but a guarantee, so that we can start with the project," Rukavina explained.
With less than 1.25 million it can't be done
In 2012 the Festival cost 1.75 million EUR, last year 1.45, "and today we simply can't go below 1.25 million", he claims. He added that 60 percent of the means derive from sponsors. Reducing the number of scenes, and impoverishing the programme, would cause the Festival "to crumble like a castle in the air", as it would drive away sponsors, and the visitors would refuse to pay the entrance fee.
The united the citizens of Maribor
He said that the difficult situation united the citizens of Maribor. He believes they realize that the Festival is one of the few things by which Maribor is recognizable, and which carries a positive connotation.
N. Ar.
Translated by G. K.