Overview
The
2nd Učka Fair,
at Poklon, near the summit of this beautiful
mountain,
showed the what one cannot see when watching it from
the surrounding rural and littoral areas, or even
during the short visits to the top by car - the life.
At vending stands there were exclusively local
products: cheese, honey, wine, brandy (biska,
medenica), mushrooms, teas from Učka plants, local
souvenirs, musical instruments, food "the way our
nonas used to make it", etc. Performers came from Veprinac, Lanišće, Opatija, Lovran, Roč, and Raša.
Last, but in no way, the least, were a few 4-legged
guests from farther away in Istria: Istrian sheep,
goat, donkey, and the 1,200kg heavy Boškarin.
Women from Lanišće, organized in
the "Club of Ćićarija Women",
 performed a daylong
demonstration of the wool sock production, from
washing and combing the wool, through making
threads, to knitting, while the younger members of
the same club performed the rarely heard, ancient Istrian singing - which, as we learnt from one of
the members, others named "bugarenje", but in
Lanišće it is simply called - pjevanje (singing).
Mario Gašparini showed the visitors the
friendliness of his Bakin & Boškarin, and their
understanding of the signals to turn and stop, as
they were used back when oxen were used to pull
carts and plows.KUD Rudar,
the only performers from outside the Učka area,
performed the Istrian folk dance Balun (In their
Labinjonski, Balon), while chorus and klapa from Veprinac sang
more contemporary local songs in now popular klapa
version. And, how can one forget the exciting
instrumental group from Roč, performing first on
the "normal" or traditional musical instruments, and
then on saws, scythes, graters, combs...
Liburnia's most popular
singers and music writers, Mario
Battifiaca and Duško Jeličić, with  his group Bonaca
- which also includes Mrs. Silvana Jeličić,
entertained the guests for the rest of the evening.
There weren't many dancers in the parking lot turned
dance podium, but the few that did dance were very
nice to watch. Actually, the first dancers were from
a group of Polish tourists, who responded to the
tune of "Tancajmo" and "Malica za pet" from the CD
early in the afternoon. The Polish group could not
wait on the live music because they were in a hurry
to take part in an accordion festival in Kastav.
Even though the program was cut short because of the
rain, Mario & Dule managed to sing their greatest
and dearest hits, squeeze in a few comedy acts and
get people to the dance podium with traditional
Istrian-Italian waltzes.
The
fair was a great example of learning from experience.
While reports after last
 year's fair talked mostly
about traffic
collaps and chaos
created by
unespectedly large number of visitors, this year the
organization of the event worked superbly. There was
a couple of policemen on hand, but
most work
regulating traffic (including Boškarin's parade
through the crowd) was donw by area volunteer
firemen and personel of Nature Park
 Učka. The
organizers, in cooperation with police departments
and Bina Istra, decided on a one way traffic flow:
Tunel Učka - Veprinac
- Poklon, where the fair was,
- Vela Učka and back down toward the Tunnel. Eveyone was a winner: Bina
Istra got tunnel traffic that otherwise wouldn't and
the visitors got 60% toll discount and no delay
driving to and from the fair (not to mention some
spectacular view on Istria and Kvarner). While last
year's traffic mess and unprepared restaurants left
many visitors virtually stranded and
hungry, this year there were
outdoor
tables and
chairs, food, brandy, coffee and beer stands, and
two
great restaurants in the fair area, all with
some
delicious stuff to eat
and great service. |
