Dr. Michael Kissinger, artistic director of Bravo! Vancouver and the Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival, recently signed an agreement with the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, to create a unique intercontinental partnership – one that brings together the elements of music, culture, friendship and business.
The new Dubrovnik International Wine & Jazz Festival, to be modeled after the Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival, is set to debut at the end of May. Organizers hope the festival's debut marks the beginning of a long, fruitful relationship between the two cities.
“We’ve been working with various partners for the past three years to arrive at this agreement, and now we look forward to producing a great event this year, and for many years to come,” said Kissinger, producer of the festival and the United States conductor of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra.
Mike Wilson, of Vancouver-based consulting firm Westby Associates Inc., is the acting business manager for the Wine & Jazz Festival. He said the relationship between Vancouver and Dubrovnik has the potential to grow far beyond music and the arts.
“Our thought is to not just make this grow as a festival, but to grow business to business relationships,” said Wilson. “We see some good exchange opportunities for businesses and for schools.”
Wilson, who served on the Vancouver City Council for seven years, envisions an unofficial sister city-type relationship between Dubrovnik and Vancouver. He expects festival organizers to extend an invitation to Dubrovnik in May to Mayor Leavitt or to a representative of the city council. From there, he said, they can develop business to business or port to port outreach.
The flip side of that, he said, would be to invite a delegation from Dubrovnik to come to Vancouver for our 14th annual Wine & Jazz Festival.
“We are already accustomed to having delegations here, whether it's our Japanese sister city or delegations coming from Russia… you could build a full week of visiting schools, visiting the port and visiting businesses,” said Wilson. “That’s the whole intent here.”
A major port city located on the Adriatic Sea coast, Dubrovnik is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in its region. In addition, the area has a popular wine growing industry, so there are similarities to the Pacific Northwest. What makes Dubrovnik so different is, without a doubt, geographic location, language and culture.
That's where the Wine & Jazz Festival comes into play, according to Wilson.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity all on the back of the international language of jazz,” said Wilson. “Of course the wine doesn’t hurt either.”
