Tonight, the 12th edition of the guitar festival "On the way to the south" was opened at the Pavarotti Music Center, which is held as part of the International Cultural Manifesto "Summer of Mostar 2026".
"We are particularly pleased that the 12th Guitar Festival 'On the Way to the South' is part of the program of this year's International Cultural Event 'Mostar Summer 2026' because its content enriches the city's musical and cultural offer, brings together talented musicians and performers, music lovers, as well as a large audience. It is precisely events like this that confirm that Mostar experiences culture in its various forms during the summer. We believe that this year's Guitar Festival will also offer a quality program and justify expectations, and once again show how important such events are for the promotion of young musicians, creativity and the cultural life of our city," emphasized Adna Ajanić, PR of the "Mostar Summer" event.
Professional associate for programs and public relations and former director of the Pavarotti Music Center Elvedin Nezirović, in whose mandate the festival was launched in 2015, recalled its beginnings and spoke about the significance and development of the festival.
"We started the festival in 2015 with great love and enthusiasm, although in those years we were in a position where we had a very modest budget and worked in very demanding circumstances. However, our basic idea was to provide our bands, primarily from Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the opportunity to present themselves to the audience on stage, show their quality, get to know the possibilities offered by our studio and perhaps one day record their own material there."
"Over the past 12 years, a large number of bands have passed through the festival - famous, lesser-known and big names - which confirms that the guitar festival has become an important platform for promoting the regional rock scene," emphasized Nezirović.
The director of the Pavarotti Music Center, Tajma Guzin, pointed out that the guitar party grows from year to year, emphasizing its regional character and significance for connecting young bands from the entire region.
"Every good idea has its own natural development path and, when given the opportunity, continues to grow and progress. Thanks to the great effort and dedicated work of all MC Pavarotti employees and our permanent collaborators, three years ago the guitar festival took on a regional character. We considered it a natural step because the countries in the region are all relatively small states and have small but very high-quality music scenes, and there is already a developed cooperation between established musicians.
Our goal was to create such a regional network for young bands as well – so that through guitar playing, socializing and exchanging experiences they can get to know each other, establish cooperation and progress together. This is precisely the greatest value and beauty of this festival, which grows and develops year after year. Out of 21 bands from the region that applied, this year the expert jury selected five finalists. The program has been further expanded and for the first time lasts three days. In addition to the competition and review part, the festival also offers an educational program", concluded Guzin.
The program of the 12th Guitariade "Na putu za jug" began with the promotion of the debut album "Domaće neprskano" by last year's winning band "Splesh", after which the bands "Limunati" from Mostar, "Bezxsluha" from Zenica, "Splesh" from Mostar, winner of the 11th Guitariade "Na putu za jug", and "Congulus" from Istanbul performed.
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