Preparations for next festival already started in Dragacevo - Possible construction of accommodation facilities for trumpet players in Guca

Although impressions are still fresh and trumpets have not "cooled down" yet, plans for the next trumpet festival in Guca are already in the making.

There is a good news for trumpet masters. Starting next year, they will be staying all the time in Guca during the festival instead of traveling to Guca every day, as it was the case all these years.

Namely, the plan is to build, or more accurately, to reconstruct a facility to accommodate about 200 trumpet players as of next year.

As Adam Tadic, director of the Guca Cultural Center, explains to eKapija, the plan is to do the reconstruction of an already existing facility of the Territorial Defense in the very center of Guca.

- A preliminary design for a facility that could accommodate about 200 trumpet players was completed two years ago, and we expect an Invitation to Bid for its construction to be issued until the end of 2012.

As Tadic says, they have decided to take this step because it is up to organizers to provide all bands with accommodation and food during the festival, and the accommodation of participants in the Dragacevo Trumpet Festival has always been an issue for them.

Certain bands, especially those from western Serbia, are neglected because they have been traveling to Guca every day during the festival for the past 52 years.

- The problem of accommodation must be resolved as soon as possible. The new facility will accommodate all trumpet players, while the priority will be given to the finalists.

(the building of the Territorial Defense in Guca to be reconstructed)

Twenty apartments for contestants

The author of preliminary designs for the reconstruction of the building of the Territorial Defense in Guca is Belgrade-based Logistika project center, which also worked on designs for the reconstruction of the Cultural Center in Guca few years ago.

Slavoljub Zakic, an engineer working at this project center, says in a talk with eKapija that the existing facility for the accommodation of trumpet masters is situated in an excellent location, adding that it will eliminate all the complaints of trumpet players regarding the accommodation, conditions and the distance.

- This facility spans about 1,000 square meters and has a ground floor, first floor and an attic. Once the reconstruction is finished, festival participants will have 20 apartments at their disposal. The plan is to make it possible for each band to have its own room. Each apartment will include a dining room and a bathroom, and it will be big enough to accommodate all members of a band. There will also be a restaurant within the building.

Belgrade-based Logistika is famous for drawing plans for so-called Serbian houses, so that the future facility in Guca should feature all elements of the Serbian architecture.

Finance

However, even the reconstruction of aforementioned building in the center of Guca will not be enough to accommodate all participants in the Dragacevo Trumpet Festival. Therefore, the director of the Guca Cultural Center does not rule out the possibility of new investments aimed at finally solving this problem.

- It may happen that we also take over Zlatna Truba hotel, which is also located in the very center of Guca. All options are still open - says Tadic.

Although he expects the reconstruction work on the accommodation facility for trumpet players to kick off by the year's end, eKapija's interlocutor says that everything depends on money. As he says, this reconstruction should be financed through the Cultural Center.

- In order to provide trumpet masters with the conditions they deserve, we also need a help from the state. According to a preliminary design that was finished two years ago, the value of the work is estimated at about RSD 35 million.

The plan is to accommodate certain number of guests in the reconstructed facility as early as during the next, 53rd Trumpet Festival in Guca.

This year's Trumpet Festival in Dragacevo was held between August 6 and 12, and it gathered 50 trumpet bands.

I.B.