Tonight the Riva Burns: Prljavo Kazalište Comes to Split
The legendary band performs at the finale of Victory Day celebrations, and the frontman recalls the evening in 1989 when songs became a symbol of unity before hundreds of thousands of people.
The legendary band performs at the finale of Victory Day celebrations, and the frontman recalls the evening in 1989 when songs became a symbol of unity before hundreds of thousands of people.
Split's Riva becomes a grand open-air stage tonight, August 5, 2026. At the finale of the Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, the Day of Croatian Defenders, and the 31st anniversary of the military-police operation Storm, Prljavo Kazalište will take the stage. The concert begins at 9:30 PM, and entry is free for all visitors.
Before the main event, the audience will be warmed up by the Revue Orchestra starting at 9 PM with the program "To the Homeland with Love." The highlight of the evening, besides the musical spectacle, will be a special fireworks display from the Gata of St. Nicholas, scheduled for 10:30 PM. It is expected that one of the more emotional moments will be the collective singing of the song "Mojoj majci," better known as "Ruža hrvatska."
Ahead of the Split performance, Jasenko Houra exclusively told Dalmacija Danas how the atmosphere leading up to the historic concert at Zagreb's Republic Square on October 17, 1989, was created. Prljavo Kazalište had completed a tour across Dalmatia during the summer, organized by managers Bubalo and Paić.
Ivica Bubalo, a manager from Split, said that performances in Split, Makarska, on Brač, and all the way to Metković and Herzegovina were sold out. Houra recalled that the audience reacted particularly enthusiastically as soon as the first chords of "Ruža hrvatska" were heard. That Dalmatian tour was a kind of overture to what would happen in Zagreb a few months later.
The authorities at the time tried to stop the concert. Houra pointed out that the order to cut off the power supply came only about twenty minutes before everything was supposed to start. However, a huge crowd was already gathered in front of the stage. "At one point, even the militia didn't know what to do," Houra said in an interview with Dalmacija Danas, recalling the evening that has been recorded as one of the most important concerts in Croatian history.
Despite the pressure, the concert took place, and footage of the massive crowd, Croatian flags, torches, and singing in unison still evokes strong emotions today. In the same interview, Houra emphasized that Prljavo Kazalište has always been excellently received in Split and announced a new meeting with the Split audience. That meeting will happen tonight, when, decades after the legendary Zagreb concert, the Split audience will once again have the opportunity to sing together songs that have become part of the collective memory.
