{"id":11760,"date":"2026-10-07T14:04:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T12:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lori.hr\/?p=11760"},"modified":"2026-10-07T14:04:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T12:04:36","slug":"deseta-smoqua-ljubav-sloboda-i-povratak-korijenima","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lori.hr\/en\/deseta-smoqua-ljubav-sloboda-i-povratak-korijenima\/","title":{"rendered":"10th Smoqua: Love, Freedom, and Back to Our Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/strong>. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From October 1st to 3rd, Rijeka was a vibrant hub of queer and feminist culture, art, activism, talks and community. This year\u2019s Smoqua carried the theme Back to the Roots, and during those three days together, our intention was to look back at what we\u2019ve 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\u2014openly and happily.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As we gather our impressions, we first want to send a huge thank you to Smoqua volunteers!<\/strong> 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 Gra\u0161o: <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"\u2014like finding bottle openers, chargers, where the printed instructions were, and so on. \ud83d\ude00 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A heartfelt thank you, dear volunteers<\/strong> , for being there before the show starts until the last lights go out.Without you, there is no Smoqua, you know that. <3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, Vesna for technical support, and Nika and Mirna for support around the Retrospective - we appreciate every hour you dedicated. :D<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> and Ben\u010di\u0107 Art District. And we have to say, it was great!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/a>., Kalvarija Ri Teatar<\/a>, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art<\/a>, and thank you to the City of Rijeka<\/a> so that rainbow colours and flags flew along Korzo once again this year. Whenever there\u2019s a need to jump in with music, a beam of lights, or rearrange everything right before a performance, Palach<\/a> crew always stands by us and a huge THANK YOU to them\u2014Poppy and Marina were there for the party from morning till night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thank you also to our dear friends from Labrisz from Budapest<\/a>, Rainbow Ignite<\/a> from Belgrade, Centre for Girls from Ni\u0161<\/a> and Legebitra<\/a> from Ljubljana: even without money, a way is found when love and support exist! <3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local and homegrown\u2014that\u2019s how it tastes sweetest at Smoqua. \ud83d\ude0a Once again, people from all over were delighted by Suza liqueurs<\/a> and Tudor wines<\/a> , who treated us generously with their local products, and we were especially touched by ADRIA bakery,<\/a> who gave us cheese and spinach pies! <3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H\u017d Passenger Transport<\/a> provided a discount on return train tickets, and Sini\u0161a and Adria Print,<\/a> as always, generously printed our flyers and posters and brought them right to our door. Kudos to you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Menstrual cups by Intimina<\/a> were all taken away \u201cin 60 seconds\u201d from our info point and LELO,<\/a> intimate accessories were handed over to the best teams at the sex-ed pub quiz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THANK YOU for your big hearts and for making this world a nicer place for ALL of us!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what was going on during those three days of queer joy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The festival opened with Smoqua Town in the (blazing) \ud83d\ude0a sun. While volleyball and bocce were played and archery was tested\u2014because, TA-DA! Decathlon<\/a> supported Smoqua\u2014people 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<\/a>, Urbani separe<\/a>, SOS Rijeka<\/a>, Delta<\/a>, Legebitra<\/a>, K-zone<\/a>, Galerija SKC<\/a>, \u017deneBiH<\/a>, Pariter<\/a>, Proces<\/a> and Queerfriending<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n