Croatia will showcase its rich maritime culture and heritage at two festivals in France from 3 to 13 April, it was said at a press conference in Split earlier in the week.

The presentation is organised by the Cronaves Association from Split.

Croatia will be presented at the festival Escale a Sete, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and is taking place in the largest fishing port of the Mediterranean, Sete, as well as in the nearby village of Marseillan in southern France.

“Four old Croatian vessels will travel to France by land in trucks: the Komiza gundula and sandula boats, the gajeta boat ‘Foranka’ from Hvar and the gajeta boat ‘Mila’ from Sepurine on the island of Prvic. The lugger ‘Nerezinac’, which the Ministry of Culture included in the List of Protected Cultural Goods in 2010 as a valuable example of traditional shipbuilding, will travel to Sete by sea from the port in Mali Losinj,” said the president of the Cronaves Association, Plamenko Bavcevic, adding that in the five years of the association, this was the sixth project representing Croatia at European maritime festivals.

He said Escale a Sete comprised the maritime heritage of the entire Europe, including ethno, tourist and gastronomy products, as well as workshops on boat and fishing net making in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

The biggest attraction from Croatia to be presented is a 22-metre sailing ship with two masts, the lugger ‘Nerezinac’, built in the 19th century, which was last year renovated and turned into an interpretation centre for navigation. It is the first sailing ship of its kind to be renovated in the Adriatic region. It is moored at a pier in Mali Losinj in front of the Museum of Apoxyomenos, and it displays and interprets the long and rich maritime history of Losinj in a modern, interesting and interactive way.

Escale a Sete is the largest festival of maritime heritage in the Mediterranean, with participants from most European countries. About 300,000 people visit it each year.