“This is an event that brings together kayaking, hiking, biking, running, paragliding, all those sports and activities that are a new trend in the world of tourism today. More and more people are running away from the hustle and bustle and want to spend their holidays actively in nature, outdoors, the trend is towards a healthy way of life. I think this is the right path we have taken in Ljubuški, to brand our city as a destination of active tourism”, said Mladen Bebek, director of the Ljubuški Tourist Board, at a press conference ahead of the Ljubuški outdoor festival.
At the press conference, the media met with the organizers, and journalists had the opportunity to ask what this year’s edition of LJOF brings, but also what this event means for the city of Ljubuški.
The second edition of LJOF in Ljubuška brings a lot of professionals as well as recreational players. Competitors will have the opportunity to run along the river Trebižat and thus get to know the natural beauty of our city, cyclists will also ride along interesting routes, along the water, but also on the hills of Ljubuža, paragliders will fly over the sky of Ljubuža… There will also be organized smaller races for children next to the Kravica waterfall, but also a kayak race, photo workshops, a hiking trip…
“This is a unique event in the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a festival of the kind you can only have in the Balkans in Zadar and nowhere else”, said Bebek, and before him, Nikica Vučić, director of JP Parkovi doo Ljubuški, thanked everyone who participated in this year’s organization, but also those who support LJOF through financial assistance and sponsorships.
“LJOF is organized together with the City of Ljubuški, the Tourist Board of the City of Ljubuški, the Government of ŽZH, the Assembly of ŽZH, the Ljubuški Cycling Club, the Paragliding Club, the Croatian Athletics Club Ljubuški, GSS and the Fokus Photo Club, and our partners are the Ljubuški Health Center and the Ljubuški Police Department . On this occasion, we would like to thank everyone for the effort and synergy thanks to which we are able to hold LJOF again this year, an event that already proved to be an interesting event with its first performance and which brings a new type of promotion to Ljubušek, especially in outdoor tourism. LJOF has the Kravica waterfall as its central venue and the goal of all races. This event thereby promotes the Kravica waterfall as an important locality, and also the branding of the whole of Ljubuški…”, pointed out Vučić.
“We have also included children’s races that will be held on Fridays, registrations for that part are open and every child can still register. Running is on Saturday, and our program starts on Sunday, i.e. cycling races that are scored for the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Last year we had 140 competitors, this year we raised it to 180. Some late applications are still coming in. In my opinion, the festival is a hit. This is the ultimate promotion for the city of Ljubuški and everything that happens in it, come, enjoy and experience Ljubuški in the best possible way”, said Ramljak.
Ivan Šiljeg, secretary of the Paragliding Club, points out that their competition is scheduled for Saturday.
“It’s about a super interesting precision landing competition called Kosača. It is about landing on a target, which is quite interesting and attractive. We have guests from all over BiH, Croatia, and Montenegro. I hope that the weather conditions will serve us, it is more difficult to plan in advance because of the wind itself. We hope to have a good event, a spectacle like last year,” said Šiljeg.
Miljenko Dropuljić, head of GSS Ljubuški, pointed out that their members will ensure the event throughout the entire time so that everything goes as smoothly as possible.
“We are ready for this festival, we are glad and honored that it is being held in our Ljubuški, because this is one of the biggest events in all of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We held LJOF last year, so in a year we are more experienced, more prepared, more trained and more capable. Our engagement begins already on Friday, when a show-style kayak race is on the program. Although the race is an exhibition, we are preparing for it as if it were the biggest. Our GSS members, who are trained in water rescue, will keep a watchful eye on everything. We will escort this race with our 10 or so rescuers, and our medics will be ready to intervene,” said Dropuljić.
The program was moderated by Ante Ilić, sports director of LJOF, who today presented the running part of the program in more detail.
