Dear friends, Smoqua celebrated its FIRST big ten years! Thank you all for your support, solidarity when it was needed most, courage, and for celebrating this anniversary together. 😊
From October 1st to 3rd, Rijeka was a vibrant hub of queer and feminist culture, art, activism, talks and community. This year’s Smoqua carried the theme Back to the Roots, and during those three days together, our intention was to look back at what we’ve been working towards from the very beginning: community building, mutual support, fight, and connecting people so that each of us can be who we truly are—openly and happily.
As we gather our impressions, we first want to send a huge thank you to Smoqua volunteers! In the heat (because it really got scorching), they carried huge tables (Larisa, a special thank you!), ran across town to fetch keys, carried the info-point (Jurica, you sweetheart!), and the memories of cramming everything into Tereza's car with all those boxes will be retold for a long time. Apart from that, there was lunch distribution (Mist and Grašo: <3), sticking up posters and handing out flyers, welcoming guests from other cities and countries, taking care of everyone's safety and well-being (Dolina and the whole team: big love!), as well as plenty of those "little jump-ins"—like finding bottle openers, chargers, where the printed instructions were, and so on. 😀
A heartfelt thank you, dear volunteers , for being there before the show starts until the last lights go out.Without you, there is no Smoqua, you know that. <3
Thank you, Vesna for technical support, and Nika and Mirna for support around the Retrospective - we appreciate every hour you dedicated. :D
A big thank you to our new and long-time collaborators, organisations, and the crew who hosted us and helped make this 10th Smoqua exactly what it was meant to be. The jubilee Smoqua was also special because, for the first time, we hosted part of the festival in Rijeka City Library and Benčić Art District. And we have to say, it was great!
A heartfelt thank you to the Library for having us and helping with microphones, power connections, and everything needed to make the festival events smooth and pleasant. Thank you to Gallery O.K.., Kalvarija Ri Teatar, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and thank you to the City of Rijeka so that rainbow colours and flags flew along Korzo once again this year. Whenever there’s a need to jump in with music, a beam of lights, or rearrange everything right before a performance, Palach crew always stands by us and a huge THANK YOU to them—Poppy and Marina were there for the party from morning till night.
Thank you also to our dear friends from Labrisz from Budapest, Rainbow Ignite from Belgrade, Centre for Girls from Niš and Legebitra from Ljubljana: even without money, a way is found when love and support exist! <3
Local and homegrown—that’s how it tastes sweetest at Smoqua. 😊 Once again, people from all over were delighted by Suza liqueurs and Tudor wines , who treated us generously with their local products, and we were especially touched by ADRIA bakery, who gave us cheese and spinach pies! <3
HŽ Passenger Transport provided a discount on return train tickets, and Siniša and Adria Print, as always, generously printed our flyers and posters and brought them right to our door. Kudos to you!
Menstrual cups by Intimina were all taken away “in 60 seconds” from our info point and LELO, intimate accessories were handed over to the best teams at the sex-ed pub quiz.
THANK YOU for your big hearts and for making this world a nicer place for ALL of us!
And what was going on during those three days of queer joy?
The festival opened with Smoqua Town in the (blazing) 😊 sun. While volleyball and bocce were played and archery was tested—because, TA-DA! Decathlon supported Smoqua—people mingled around the booths, chatted, and searched for stickers. Organisations and initiatives in the fields of culture, youth, and human rights from Croatia and abroad joined us: Drugo more, Urbani separe, SOS Rijeka, Delta, Legebitra, K-zone, Galerija SKC, ŽeneBiH, Pariter, Proces and Queerfriending. Crochet roses were crafted on the grass with our Roberta, delicious cookies were eaten, and people chilled by the stream in the shade. The exchange of ideas and experiences was a lovely reminder of how important it is to connect and create inclusive spaces in Rijeka and everywhere.
And then Benčić Art District got its rainbow colours. Young people and our fellow citizens laid down a crocheted flag that will stay with us even after the festival, an action that was part of the RiActivate project. Thank you to everyone who crocheted over the past months, and to Roberta, who accompanied the whole action with so much love! 😊
We opened the festival with the retrospective "10 Years of Smoqua in Rijeka", looking back at our beginnings and remembering how Smoqua was "born," followed by an important panel on collaboration with institutions featuring Jelena, Samanta, Ana, and Vanessa, moderated by Iva.
The second day of Smoqua was a blend of workshops, creativity, and art, exploring themes of everyday queer life, empowerment, and resistance. The program kicked off with a career development workshop for LBTIQ women and non-binary persons as part of LORI’s new project— LEP—and Gabe (the facilitator) nailed it. It continued with a club costume-making workshop led by Kris and Lana, where youth created costumes for different body parts and then paraded through the Art District. Rijeka City Library hosted us and a brilliant exhibition of illustrations, design, and posters featuring Ivana, Korin, and Helena (Rina unfortunately couldn't make it), while the evening program was marked by a packed Sex-ed LELO quiz brilliantly hosted by our Jurica and Grašo, the short film "Rebellion of Lesbian Jacobins" accompanied by our dear partners from Labrisz, and the powerful performance "What Color is Truth?"Thanks to the crew at Kalvarija, especially the technicians who set up everything to perfection, as well as Mateo and Andrea for an honest Q&A after the performance.
On the third day, we focused on the work of regional feminists through Maja's workshop "(My) Right to Peaceful Assembly", while Tanja and Marta from the Center for Girls Niš presented how they empower girls and women in the fight against violence, discrimination, and human trafficking. We were deeply moved by the opening of the exhibition "Our Sisters" by Ivana Mrčela, which offered another space to reflect on what we carry with us, where we come from, and what we continue to fight for.
The only "mishap" at Smoqua was the sudden cancellation of the performance "Milk me" by Iranian-Austrian artist Negin Rezaie due to illness, but we believe we will certainly collaborate with the Austrian Cultural Forum Zagreb again in the future.
And then... then came the Queer-UP! Party at the iconic Palach. 💃🏻
Wonderful ŽeneBiH and drag collective Harem Girls brought together a sea of people and took us back to the good old "Palach days." There was dancing, singing, letting loose, and celebrating, while a VJ set by Masha and Amila lit up the dance floor during the show. Outside Palach, people chatted and cooled off in the fresh air while volunteer forces at the entrance worked non-stop stamping hands (only green, only sustainable 😊). There were a few challenging situations, but our experience, mutual support, and care for people helped us resolve them together.
And perhaps that is one of the most important reminders of this party and Smoqua: safety and togetherness are not things to be taken for granted, but something we build and protect together. 😊
And finally, THANK YOU, our dear community, for coming to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Smoqua with us and for reminding us how much we have built together so far!
See you next year, and until then, let's cherish all the memories (not to say roots 😊) and, most importantly—let's take care of each other! Big hugs to you all! <3
