About the event
An invitation to a tourist walk through the Catholic Cemetery Dubovac, under the title "In the Embrace of Silence", might typically evoke expectations of historical and cultural monuments and stories told along the cemetery paths. However, when this walk is held during the week of the Fog Festival, in one of Croatia's foggiest cities, it is clear that it won’t be an ordinary event.
Katzler Pavilion, in collaboration with the Karlovac Tourist Board and the Karlovac County Tourist Guides Association "Bastion", with the support of the Karlovac company "Zelenilo", included a cemetery tour in the Festival program, starting at dusk, when darkness had already taken hold and the cemetery is rarely visited. The goal was to evoke in and around the visitors a mood of silence and peace, free from daytime distractions, while opening their eyes wide to see not only what is there but also what might not be visible, yet is possible.
Although one might think that darkness in an unlit cemetery would be an obstacle, in this case, it became a unifying force, connecting everyone in a mystical story rooted in the real lives of those who rest there forever. Every story matters, regardless of how "significant" someone was in life. And when these stories are wrapped in the foggy veil nature gifted us that evening, all our senses become more attuned, receiving stimuli we are otherwise unaware of.
The walk itself, through the cemetery in the evening hours, was mysterious enough. Visits to the All Saints Chapel and the Vranyczany-Dobrinović Mausoleum, made possible by "Zelenilo" and the mausoleum’s caretakers, added extra value to the entire tour. Many participants recognized this and left with smiles and satisfaction after the 90-minute journey.
We can confidently say that the mission, vision, purpose, and goals of the Fog Festival—increasing the visibility of Karlovac on the world tourist map through education, competition, connecting all tourism stakeholders in the city, raising awareness among Karlovac residents about the potential of their city, revitalizing the post-season, pushing boundaries and breaking the framework of established events—were successfully achieved. And all thanks to the great enthusiasm of the organizers, who back in 2018 launched the first jar of "Karlovac Fog", a souvenir of a guerrilla marketing campaign whose goal was the same as the goal of the Fog Festival - to increase the visibility of Karlovac. Back then, Morana Rožman, introducing the jar of Karlovac fog, warned everyone to be careful. If the jar was carelessly opened, the fog would spread and envelop us all. Clearly, someone did just that, and now we belong to it—foggy and mysterious. And we fear nothing—not even an evening walk through the cemetery.
Text by Ivančica Šebalj
Photos by Demjan Rožman
*The original text in Croatian can be found HERE.
