Taksirat
Festivals… an African invention. The Latins patented it, the modern world accepted it, and so did we, as part of the global village. And our “TAKSIRAT” confirms the definition of textbooks, and we celebrate… in the name of music, something for everyone and in a unique harmony of diversity.
The first edition of TAKSIRAT was held in 1999 and since then this unique festival is still held every year and still has an extremely important role in building a “new” and better Skopje through various aspects and approaches to counter-culture. Despite the fact that today world and regional music stars perform on the stage of Taksirat, the festival still manages not to turn into a classic commercial mainstream event and manages to maintain its original image by still being firmly based on the foundations from its beginnings that is, ideals and beliefs in the meaning of counter-culture.
Taksirat Festival, created with the intention of expressing revolt and dissatisfaction with the cultural life and music scene in Macedonia at that time, started as a small festival (300-400 visitors) that promoted popular music artists and groups from the former Yugoslavia. Namely, the word “TAKSIRAT” is an old Turkish word which in translation means “fate”, often in a negative context as “bad luck”, “accident”… Today, Taksirat is a highly professional event that hosts world famous music stars and an event that attracts more than 10,000 visitors from all over the region just for the main festival night. Through its holding, the festival taught us in a unique way and showed that the ‘bad experience’ (taksirat) always has its good sides – it makes us think about what we can do to improve things, learn new things, work and to share experiences and experiences, because in that way, through constant development and sharing (of ideas, experiences, achievements, goods) life gets meaning, purpose and significance…
The festival lasts for 2 weeks, the last week of November and the first of December, ending with the main event traditionally on December 7th. In addition to the main music program, Taksirat Festival is enriched every year with an additional so-called off-program such as art performances, art films, theater performances, PIN Music conference, workshops, showcase performances, socially responsible campaigns that promote positive values among the young population (No Guns, Stop AIDS, Be A Volunteer), promotions of new music releases, performances of young and unestablished artists in front of the audience and so on.
On the shoulders of Taksirat:
- Recognition of the Most Original Concept – Mixing East and West – awarded by the Storm of Change Music Conference in Dresden, Germany
- Nomination for The Best Rock’n’Roll Festival on the Balkan Nomination
- Nominated for The Best Overseas Festival at the UK Festival Awards in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011
- For 7 years in a row, Taksirat Festival has been nominated for the Best Indoor Festival and the Best Small Festival at the awards given by the most important European festival association – European Festival Awards.
- Taksirat Festival won the “Green’N ‘Clean” award (in 2011) organized by the European Festival Association “YOUROPE”.
- In 2013, Taksirat organized the first international music conference in Macedonia
- Taksirat Festival has so far been part of several successfully implemented international projects in the field of culture and art that are dedicated to the development, promotion and improvement of the cultural scene and which are part of European cultural programs, such as Multiculturalism in Music (EACEA, Culture Program 2007-2013), Music Without Borders (IPA 2009) and others.
