EVALUATION OF THE XIITH INTERNATIONAL TV AND RADIO FESTIVAL OF GASTRONOMY ZNOJEMSKÝ HROZEN 2010
Dear friends!
In this year´s evaluation I have to say that quality of TV and radio programs is increasing and there is also progress in commercial spots section, interest of submitters grows there and the winning spots really belong to the top. The number of radio programs submitted is higher too, the participation of regional studios of the Czech Radio is pleasant and the number of foreign programs attending is a nice surprise. I appreciate that we have hit even more destinations in the TV programs category – there has been 17 countries involved. All continents except Antarctica have been occupied.
Accompanying events continued in tradition of last years - National days. Attractive and exotic day of Arab republic of Egypt took place on Wednesday, opulent day of gastronomic superpower Italy on Thursday. Friday brought introduction of products from South Bohemian and South Moravian regions within the Day of Regions, focused on regional food. The festival tent with its roofed podium (where BROLN appeared on Friday) together with stands created the festival town, which was filled with residents and visitors of Znojmo and of the festival.
The bartender competition raised great response traditionally. In the new space of the Chevignon Club the competition preceded the National days and even bartenders from Peru and Venezuela attended the competition.
Placing the sommelier competition in the Louka Monastery was positively received, there is enough calm for concentration during twelve hours lasting marathon of 29 participants from Czech and Slovak schools.
The opening ceremony and evening gala in the hall of the Althan Palace with twelve bangers were very classy. There was a very pleasant evening in the St. Jan wine bar of the Hotel Prestige, where Middle Slovácko region presentation took place and perfect cymbals band from Velká nad Veličkou played music, which inspired two opera stars Edita Randová and Dagmar Vaňkátová to join them. Closing meeting in the Hotel Prestige´s restaurant in new form was also enjoyable.
The concert of Prague's State Opera soloist Dagmar Vaňkátová, „Biblical characters“ in the St. Nicolas church, was especial. She was by harpist Lydie Hartelová and flutist Václav Kunt accompanied.
The Svět Cinema had great attendance at public projections of competition programs, cuttings of the ANIFEST festival and Mamma Mia movie.
Children painting and creative competition Full plate of painting took place for a first time in municipality on the Armády square and was accompanied with children festival reception in the Hotel Prestige. The Gastronomy Grotesque exhibition begun on 29/6 and took place in the Starobrno Brewery Restaurant in Brno and continued on 23/9 in Prague´s Mánes gallery. Experts appreciated the Lughnasadh exhibition in the Art House, which was thematically focused on our Celtic roots.
Festival train, dispatched in cooperation with Czech Railways and Winery Fund, visited Šatov, where guests took a look at the Znovín Znojmo winery operation.
Professionals appreciated well the Competition of Beer Specials in the Hotel Prestige, Grand Prix Sommelier Competition in the Louka Monastery and Food Forum focused on the Regional Food Project in the Althan Palace. Czech Agricultural Board of the Chamber of Deputies, Czech Department of Agriculture, Winery Fund, Czech Food Chamber and SZIF took important participation on these events.
The festival was closed officially by the results proclamation and prize giving in the Znojmo City Theater during nice evening with performance of Jiří Vejvoda and musical singers of the Music Theater Brno, Petr Gazík and Lukáš Vlček.
And final summary:
The XIIth annual International festival of TV and Radio programs of Gastronomy Znojemský Hrozen was held on 14. - 17. 9. 2010.
133 TV programs, 61 radio programs and 105 commercial spots, altogether from 18 countries from all over the world, participated on the competition.
250 publicists, sponsor representatives and experts has been accredited, including participants from Slovakia, Egypt, Syria, Romania, Taiwan, Spain, Austria, Italy, Finland, Norway and Germany.
Many precious guests, representatives of Znojmo City, Southmoravian Region, Department of Agriculture, Department for Regional Development and Department of Health, senators and parliamentarians visited the festival.
Main prize – Grand Prix Znojemský Hrozen was given by Minister of Agriculture Ing. Ivan Fuksa.
Znojemský Hrozen festival gained the Golden Apple prize, given by Tourism and foreign affairs section of publicists, for its long standing contribution in this area.
There were total 5000 visitors on public events, traditionally of free entry. 60 companies and media partners have cooperated on the festival.
The connecting element though the festival was support of Czech production, from wine and beer to food products with KLASA and Regional Food marks.
Success of the XIIth annual festival was based on long lasting and careful preparations and good cooperation of all interested parts: the Znojmo City, Znojmo Beseda, the Southmoravian Muzeum and many others.
Cooperation with partner festival ANIFEST and Chello Central Europe has acquitted well.
Chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic, Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development and governor of Southmoravian Region took auspices over the XIIth annual festival.
Main media partners Czech Television and Právo journal also provided important support.
Finally I want to thank to all financial and media partners and cooperating institutions, because there would be no festival without them.
Yours,
JUDr. Ladislav Jíša
director of festival
Prague, September 19th, 2010
A Look Back at the 11th Festival Znojemský hrozen 2009
I still look upon the 11th Festival with a little bit of astonishment. I did not expect us to be able to increase its quality even more after the 10th Anniversary Festival. It is a huge commitment for next year.
The quality of television and radio programs has gone up and the positive development is accompanied by the ongoing increase in the number of commercials: all clients again consented to their commercials taking part in the competition. As regards radio programs, the number of participants has also risen. The proportion of regional studios of the Czech Radio is a positive aspect and competition productions from abroad are a pleasant surprise. As far as television programs are concerned, I am happy about the fact that we reached more destinations – productions from 16 countries from all over the world took part in the contest.
The accompanying events were based on a very positive circumstance of the previous years: the National Days. A nice and interesting Day of the Kingdom of Sweden took place on Wednesday, Thursday saw a spontaneous Romanian Day, when part of Romanian culture, mentality and gastronomy literally materialized in Znojmo, and the final and relaxed Czech Republic Day was held on Friday. The festival pavilion, which was again placed on a large stage, stands and the surrounding areas were filled with the people of Znojmo, visitors to the town and festival guests. All of that despite adverse weather conditions, which were prevalent on Thursday.
Transferring the sommelier competition to a monastery in Louka u Znojma was a good decision, as the place was quiet enough to allow the 41 contestants to focus during their twelve-hour marathon. As always, the bartender competition Fleitrix, which preceded the National Days, was well received.
The standard of the opening ceremony was high and it was merged with a gala night and employed, for the first time, the atrium of the Althanský Palace. A lovely party took place at St. John’s Tavern at the Prestige Hotel in the evening, featuring a presentation of Upper Moravian Slovakia, and a wonderful newly designed final meeting was held at the Municipal Archives.
Václav Hudeček, a violin virtuoso, played a brilliant concert, accompanied by the piano player Petr Adamec, at St. Nicholas Cathedral.
The Svět Cinema was also jam-packed during public presentations of contesting productions, a documentary of the ANIFEST Festival and, more or less, during the film Což takhle dát si špenát.
The 10th Anniversary Exhibition of Gastronomy Cartoons and a child cartoonist and artist competition called A Plate Full of Painting, held at the Václavské náměstí Elementary School for the first time this year and featuring a child festival reception at the Prestige Hotel again, were well received by the audience. Experts highly acclaimed the long‑term efforts by the VIVO Gallery to present works by top Czech painters at the festival (this year’s theme: Argument between Body and Soul, or, Who Am I?). The exhibition will move from Znojmo to the Portheimka Exhibition Hall in Prague.
Our festival train came to Mikulov, where the visitors were able to see the tombs of the Dietrichstein Family and enjoy good wine in the village of Perná.
From the point of view of professionals, our two workshops were very well received, featuring quality productions: the first workshop was called The Phenomenon of Beer and included a competition of specialty beers at the Prestige Hotel and the other one – Food Forum – was held at the Althanský Palace and attended by more than 80 food producers and the Minister of Agriculture, Jakub Šebesta, and top officials of the Federation of the Food and Drink Industries of the Czech Republic. The end of the Forum featured chefs Jan Punčochář and Pavel Mareš cooking meals using products with the KLASA label, which was hosted by Ivan Vodochodský. These events were very much supported by the Agricultural Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Food and Drink Federation, the State Agricultural Intervention Fund, the Wine Fund, and the Research Institute of Brewing and Malting.
The Festival officially ended with a results and prize ceremony at the Municipal Theater in Znojmo, which was attended by the President of the Senate of the Czech Parliament, Přemysl Sobotka, the Mayor of Znojmo, Petr Nezveda, and a number of other notable guests. This pleasant informal evening was hosted by Aleš Cibulka, Ivan Hlas and Norbi Kovácz.
And now a summary at the end:
The 11th International Television and Radio Festival of Gastronomy called Znojemský hrozen (Znojmo Grape) was held from 15 to 18 September 2009.
A total of 124 television shows, 44 radio shows from the Czech Republic, and 56 commercials from 16 countries from all over the world were allowed to take part in the festival competition.
As many as 400 journalists, partner representatives and industry professionals and other guests were accredited to the festival, including participants from Slovakia, Sweden, Romania, Britain and Germany.
The festival was attended by a number of notable guests, such as officials of the town of Znojmo, the South Moravian Region, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Regional Development and MPs. The main prize – Grand Prix Znojemský hrozen – was handed over by the President of the Senate of the Czech Parliament, Přemysl Sobotka.
Approximately 5,000 people were present at public events, which were traditionally free of charge during festival time. The events included the National Days, a bartender contest and show, public presentations of competition productions and a film, a concert at St. Nicholas Cathedral, and exhibitions: Gastronomy Cartoons, Argument between Body and Soul, or, Who Am I?, and a Plate Full of Painting.
The festival included a contest of junior sommeliers from the Czech and Slovak Republics and workshops to support Czech winemaking, food production, beer and brewing and malting industries and agriculture. Support of Czech produce from wine to beer to KLASA food products was the common feature of all festival events.
A total of 50 companies and media partners were involved in the festival.
Long-term and careful preparations and a good coordination of all parties involved, from the town of Znojmo to the cultural organization Znojemská Beseda to the Museum of Southern Moravia, made the 11th Festival a success.
Cooperation with the ANIFEST and TOURFILM Festivals also proved to be beneficial.
The 11th Festival was held under the auspices of the President of the Senate of the Czech Parliament, the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Regional Development, and the President of the South Moravian Region.
It is important to note that the project received financial support from the town of Znojmo and the South Moravian Region this year.
To conclude, I would like to thank all of our financial and media partners and collaborating institutions, without whom the festival could not have taken place.
While the 11th Festival successfully followed our previous festivals, we are aware that we can do even more. It is a great commitment for the future festivals.
JUDr. Ladislav Jíša
Festival Director