These are the two capitals of culture for 2020

While in this year's cultural capital, Plovdiv information boards and advertising banners are gradually leaving the town's landscape, Rijeka in Croatia and Galway in Ireland are in their beginnings. So far, tourists were not worth stopping in Rijeka -- most just slipped across the road to Opatis and other typical picturesque Adriatic cities. Because Rijeka has no attractive beach with herzlongje and colorful umbrellas. But the city doesn't need them, because its charm is somewhere else.

Rijeka is a milestone between Central and Southeast Europe. The port city with medieval fortresses, state-of-the-art palaces from Habsburg, art Nouveau-style markets, Italian piacs, the pre-fabrillated socialist buildings and abandoned factories, who want to revive again whose beach is needed here?

Rijeka: Witness of the Ages

Until World War I, Rijeka belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, from 1924 to 1945 most of the city was under Italian rule. The multiethnic state of Yugoslavia, in which Rijeka became a socialist model city with shipyards, refinerys and factories, followed. The population grew from 25,000 to 200,000. After the breakup of Yugoslavia many industries closed down, factories became apocalypse. Many people were out of work, what remained was the service and migration sector. Today, 130,000 still live in Rijeka.

Turning the Old Into New

Rijeka has received a total of 40m euros from EU funds for next year. But unlike other cultural capitals, the city at Kvarner Bay will not build new buildings. Rijeka has preserved the old one and turns it into new. “The abandoned industrial buildings are part of the city's identity, they have narrative value, so we've decided not to tear them down, but to rediagnose”, says Irena Kregar Shegota, communications chief for “Rijeka 2020”.

Like the former factory “Ricard Benchiq” at Kreshimova Street in Rijeka: Four new cultural institutions will now find shelter in the abandoned 27,000 square metres arena.

Even the ship “Galeb” (in Albanian “The city project has been well received by tourists, but not by some residents. Some of us identify this ship only with Tito and Yugoslavia and are skeptical how this chapter of our history will be portrayed, but our goal is to tell the entire story of the ship, which began long before Tito and is very interesting. And besides, we believe that the ship as a museum could be a favorite tourist attraction and therefore a good source of revenue for the town of”, says Irena Kregar Shegota.

Open, tolerant, and multicultural

Rijeka's vivid cultural scene attracts many free professionals and people who love freedom. Rijeka has always been dynamic and progressive. It is the birthplace of punk music in Croatia with bands such as “Paraff” and the first rock band in the former Yugoslavia, “Urabani”.

“> The port of diversity” is the motto, which has given itself Rijeka. The port is the gateway to the world through which many nationalities, cultures, and religions have come. They make Rijeka a very special city. Unlike very conservative Croatia, Rijeka is more tolerant, opener, cheaper. LTGB festival “Smoqua” develops here without incident. This is not so in other parts of the country, where right-wing forces are regaining momentum. “Rijeka is a tolerant city, which not only accepts differences but also lives them. We are also the first city in Croatia, which is part of the Council of Europe network “atterculral cyties”, “intercultural cities “. That's why we picked the motto “the port of diversity”. We ask this car about Europe: How ready is Europe to accept the differences?

European Capital of Culture at Brex Time

Galway is located about 100 miles [160 km] from the Northern Ireland border. This warms people because Britain will leave the EU in late January, and many fear the revival of the conflict with Northern Ireland, in which thousands have been killed and tens of thousands have been injured. “The festival comes at the right time. We need more culture than ever, says Irish Ambassador to London Adrian O'Neill. “It can change” attitudes.

Hopes are high that the title of the European Culture Capital will help ease tensions on the Irish island due to Brex. Preparations for opening continue: The wind will roar during the opening and it will rain, says creative director Helen Marriage, “but it will be a great pleasure”. So don't be afraid of the weather app.