Effective EU project event management starts with careful planning at every stage. From 12 to 14 September 2025, the MICE.BA team managed the organisation of Gastro Festival Blidinje 2025, which welcomed more than 5,000 visitors.
The festival was delivered within the EU project SUSTOUR: Sustainable Tourism for Local Development. The project is led by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of West Herzegovina Canton.
MICE.BA has 17 years of experience in implementing EU project activities. Our task was to turn the concept of sustainable tourism into a festival for visitors, local producers and the wider community.
MICE.BA scope of work at the festival
- Event logistics and stakeholder coordination
- Exhibitor planning and stand layout
- Coordination of local cooks and food service
- Children’s programme with 12 workshops
- Organisation of a professional forum
- Visual identity, PR and social media
- Compliance with EU visibility rules and final reporting
- Event Logistics in a Protected Nature Park
Blidinje Nature Park is a protected mountain area where all event infrastructure has to be planned and set up on site. For this reason, event logistics was the core of our work.
We mapped all stakeholders in advance, set the timeline and established clear lines of communication. We worked closely with local communities, utility services and safety services. The local community arranged the exhibitor huts, technical equipment, temporary utility connections, traffic regulation and visitor flow.
This preparation kept the event running smoothly across all three days. We managed the festival from the first planning steps to the final reports. Every part of the organisation was aligned with the EU visibility rules of the SUSTOUR project.
Exhibitors and Local Products
We designed the exhibition area to give priority to local producers, craftspeople and keepers of tradition from the Blidinje region. Visitors could buy honey, propolis, rakija, herbal syrups, teas, natural balms and handmade souvenirs.
Our task was to plan a stand layout that allowed visitors to move easily between exhibitors. This way, visitors could meet the people behind each product.
Local Cooks on Site: 7,000 Uštipci and 5,000 Portions
Food was at the centre of the festival programme. We coordinated local cooks who prepared traditional dishes at affordable prices.
Visitor demand is reflected in the figures. Homemade uštipci were the most popular item, with more than 7,000 sold. Raštika, sarma, japrak and sauerkraut sold out by early afternoon. In total, the festival served more than 5,000 portions of hot meals.
12 Workshops for Children
We gave special attention to the children’s programme. Together with experts from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of West Herzegovina Canton, we designed 12 educational and recreational activities.
Children and parents took part in archaeology and painting workshops, traditional Olympic games and a junior mountaineering school. The programme also included a Bear’s Paw treasure hunt, sack races and tug of war. For young adventurers, we set up a zip line and a climbing wall. Each evening ended around a campfire with stories and local legends that brought visitors together.
Professional Event: Forum on Sustainable Tourism
The festival opened with a conference and a professional Forum on Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Heritage. The topic was creating the conditions for cultural tourism development in Blidinje Nature Park. The Forum brought together representatives of ministries, tourist boards, experts and event organizers. We coordinated protocol, technical support, materials and the working sessions. We applied the same standards we use at business conferences.
PR and Media
With support from the SUSTOUR project, the festival received a complete communication campaign this year. We created the visual identity and prepared announcements and five PR articles for regional media. We also managed social media before and during the festival.
Sports activities were part of the Sunday programme. In cooperation with the cycling club Hercegovina Bike, we organised the Stećci Route Bike Ride. Around one hundred cyclists rode through four locations: Dugo polje, Risovac, Barzonja and Bare. At each stop, a professional guide presented the history of the stećci, medieval tombstones inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Local Partnerships and Festival Development
Gastro Festival Blidinje 2025 marked its fourth edition in Blidinje Nature Park. It confirmed that large events in protected natural areas can be organized professionally, safely and with full care for the environment.
With support from the SUSTOUR project, this edition raised the festival’s organisational standards, media promotion and on-site infrastructure. Close cooperation with the local community was the foundation of this success. Our key partners were the Municipality of Posušje, the Croatian Mountaineering Society Pločno Posušje and the Visit Blidinje association.
For the MICE.BA team, this festival confirmed that our experience in complex logistics and EU projects translates directly into well-organised outdoor events.
Gastro Festival Blidinje 2025 was organised within the EU project SUSTOUR: Sustainable Tourism for Local Development, co-financed by the European Union through ERDF and IPA II funds.
PR i mediji
Uz pomoć SUSTOUR projekta festival je ove godine dobio snažan zamah u smislu organizirane kompletne komunikacijske kampanje. Izradili smo vizualni identitet, pripremili najave i pet PR tekstova objavljenih u regionalnim medijima te vodili društvene mreže uoči i tijekom festivala. Nedjeljni dio programa obogatile su i sportske aktivnosti. U suradnji s Biciklističkim klubom Hercegovina Bike, organizirana je Biciklijada Rutom stećaka. Oko stotinu biciklista vozilo je kroz četiri lokaliteta (Dugo polje, Risovac, Barzonja i Bare), gdje ih je stručna voditeljica upoznala s poviješću stećaka koji su pod zaštitom UNESCO-a.
Author: Josipa Terzić – Rezić, CIS and CCMEP Certified Professional Event Organiser
CIS – Certified Incentive Specialist (certified by SITE – Society for Incentive Travel Excellence)
CCMEP – Certified Congress, Meeting, and Event Professional (certified by the HCCP – Croatian Association of Congress Professionals)
mice@mice.ba | GSM: +387 63 408 597 | www.mice.ba
