The second Ljubuški Outdoor Festival was officially opened today in the Cultural Center in Ljubuški.
In front of a large number of visitors, mostly lovers of various outdoor sports activities, Mayor Vedran Markotić was the first to address those present, who pointed out that four wonderful days await us in Ljubuški.
Various stands will be set up on the plateau of the Kravica waterfall, and like last year, visitors will be able to familiarize themselves with the various activities offered in Ljubuški, great concerts are being prepared, and competitors arriving from the entire region will test their sporting limits in running, cycling and piloting a paraglider and have great fun at the same time.
“I thank everyone for coming, enjoy Ljubuški! This is slowly becoming a tradition, we have entered a bad time – the time of the pandemic. Now we are slowly getting back to normal, four wonderful days await us in Ljubuški, I wish you a warm welcome”, said Markotić to those gathered in the Cultural Center, among whom there were competitors from all over the world. Special attention was captured by a group of Czechs, who already showed their sportsmanship tonight. As program manager Bjanka Medić pointed out, they arrived in Ljubuška by bicycle from Mostar.
After Mayor Markotić’s speech, the director of JP Parkovi Nikica Vučić took the floor, who pointed out that LJOF gathers and promotes all the best that we have.
” The Ljubuški outdoor festival gathers many activists from the world of sports and recreation and is the best possible promotion of active tourism in Ljubuški,” said Vučić, who also thanked numerous sponsors, whose advertisements could be seen today in the Cultural Center.
Host Bjanka Medić then introduced the other organizers, and after Ante Ilić from “Parkovo” briefly presented the program, representatives of clubs, Ljubuški cyclists, runners, paragliders took the floor.
On behalf of the Ljubuški Cycling Club, Mirko Luburić said a few words about their disciplines.
“Cycling races are scored for the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The races start on Sunday at 11 am. The bicycle race “Stipe” is of a slightly more difficult nature and is for slightly braver riders. It goes over the Butorovica hill and goes around all the bike paths that we have been working on for the last couple of years. It passes by the tower of Herceg Stjepan and descends to Humac and meets Trebižat and the camp at Gračina, after which it goes to Kravica. The “Mara” race is more of a recreational character. It is 21 kilometers long and anyone can drive it”, Luburić explained.
The fact that Luburić arrived at the opening ceremony at the last minute shows how much hard work is being done on the organization. Until tonight, the members of BK Ljubuški were working on marking the paths so that cyclists in Ljubuški would have the best conditions for riding.
Ivan Šiljeg, secretary of the Ljubuški Paragliding Club, pointed out that they are closely monitoring the forecasts, and the current announcements are that the weather will be good and we will be able to enjoy the sights of paragliders in the Ljubuški sky.
“The flying program starts on Saturday. So far the weather forecast looks very good and I hope we will have a great day and a great spectacle. I ask that as many of you as possible come and see off the precision landing competition. We leave on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. with a briefing where we gather with the pilots and introduce them to the plan, we drive to Pinzgauer to the airstrip made possible by “Herzegovina GO”, then a series of landings starts. The pilots will take off one after the other, and the first landings can be expected as early as 10 to 11 am. Come, I would like to mention that there will be food and drinks at the landing site provided by “Ohio”, so you will not be hungry or thirsty, and you will be able to enjoy watching the paragliders landing…” pointed out Šiljeg.
ladimir Pokrajčić from the Croatian Athletics Club Ljubuški presented the running part of the program and pointed out that they had a lot of praise for the running part of the program last year. They will try to raise it a notch higher this year.
“We have eight children’s races in men’s and women’s competition, from pre-school age to the ninth grade of elementary school, and this part will be held on Friday on the plateau of the Kravica waterfall, and on Saturday the main event of the running program, the 10.6-kilometer race and the 21.1 kilometers, said Pokrajčić, who pointed out that this year too, numerous famous racing names announced their arrival in Ljubuški.
“Last year we had solid competition, this year it is getting better, the competition is growing and stronger. It will be even better next year, the number of competitors will only grow”, Pokrajčić is optimistic.
After the welcoming speeches, there was an outdoor forum on the topic of “Safe movement in nature”, led by Nives Batista from GSS Ljubuški, and famous mountaineers from Ljubuški and the region spoke, and a special reception was organized for all visitors.
See the photo gallery from the opening HERE
PROGRAM
FRIDAY 27 MAY 2022 – City of Ljubuški / Kravica Waterfall
– 12:00 pm – Žarko Bilić Memorial Canoe Race / Beginning of the Outdoor Fair
– 4:00 p.m. – Children’s cycling and running races
– 8:00 p.m. – Music program: Bands of the Ljubuški Music School and Birdland Jazz Quartet
Saturday the 28th MAY 2022 – City of Ljubuški / Kravica Waterfall
– 12:00 p.m. – Beginning of the outdoor fair
– 09:00 a.m. – Paragliding precision landing competition “Kosača”
– 5:30 p.m. – Two Waterfalls Half Marathon
– 18:30 h – Ljubuška ten “Scunasticus”
– 9:00 p.m. – Music program: Band ZOSTER and band NOA&Funkblasters
Sunday the 29th. MAY 2022 – City of Ljubuški / Kravica Waterfall
– 10:00 a.m. – Cycling races “STIPE” and “MARA”
– 12:00 p.m. – Beginning of the outdoor fair
– 19:00h – “VINYL NIGHT”
