The 15th Weekend Media Festival (WMF) is being held in Rovinj from 22 to 25 September and has attracted more than a hundred speakers and lecturers for dozens of lectures and panel discussions, the organisers said on Monday, adding that they expect 4,000 to 5,000 visitors to the event.

“This year, we expect visitors from different industries and areas, a fresh dose of the latest trends from numerous industries, world-renowned speakers, interesting discussions and controversial topics, panels that exceed all expectations, networking and getting to know potential business partners, and performances by the biggest domestic and regional stars,” the organisers said.

Festival director Tomo Ricov said that trends are changing rapidly and new generations can bring a different perspective and innovations.

According to Ricov, the festival aims to cover as wide an area as possible – from marketing, journalism and PR to creativity, sports, the economy, business, automotive and IT industry, and once again this year it will attract leading media, marketing and communication experts.

The festival will be opened on Friday by Israeli publicist, journalist and international security expert Yossi Melman. The festival will also host Jelena Djokovic, co-founder and global director of the Novak Djokovic Foundation, who will talk about media and humanitarian work.

The winners of the FoodTech StartUp Competition will also be announced. This competition brings together creative startups on the contemporary food and hospitality scene.

The competition was launched in May by the Infobip IT company, the Maistra Hospitality Group and the Pepermint marketing agency with the aim of finding long-term solutions to increase sustainability with a green future as a priority.

Over the past 15 years the Weekend Media Festival has grown into the largest regional communication conference that attracts visitors from the entire region, and mostly from Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia, the organisers said.