Stjepan Večković on the left is the main proponent of orchestral bagpipe playing and organizer of the 3rd Croatian Bagpipe Festival in Mihovljan near Zagreb in 2009. On the right: Marko First, Tomislav Gec, Zvjezdan Draganić and Iva Cvrtila.

Croatian names for bagpipes are gajde, mih, dude or diple Hrvatski gajdaški festival je međunarodni festival tradicijskih glazbala u organizaciji Centra za tradicijska glazbala Hrvatske, a prvi put je održan 20. listopada 2007. u mjestu Mihovljan u Hrvatskom zagorju. Na 1. Hrvatskom gajdaškom festivalu je sudjelovalo 29 izvođača, svirača raznih tradicijskih glazbala iz Hrvatske, te gosti iz inozemstva. Program je bio bogat i raznovrstan te su posjetitelji, osim gajdi, mogli čuti i dude, ljericu, samicu, slovačke gajde, fujaru, bugarske gajde, istarski mih i šurle, didgeredoo, cimbal, jedinku, okarinu, pjevanje uz tradicijska glazbala, te vrlo interesantne glazbene sastave. U dodatnom programu je nastupila Lidija Bajuk. Centar za tradicijska glazbala Hrvatske osniva prvu hrvatsku GAJDAŠKU AKADEMIJU na kojoj će polaznici imati prilike naučiti sve o gajdama i srodnim glazbalima na ovim prostorima. Hrvatska je izuzetno bogata glazbalima tipa gajdi (glazbala s mješinom), te će poseban naglasak biti na učenju tehnika sviranja slavonskih i baranjskih gajdi, podravskih i bilogorskih duda, te nekih vrsta mihova i dipli (istarski, dalmatinski, hercegovački mih). Ovisno o interesu postojat će mogućnost učenja sviranja gajdi i drugih europskih naroda (makedonske gajde, bugarske, španjolske, slovačke, irske, škotske...). Osim tehnika sviranja, učit će se osnove glazbe (za polaznike koji ne čitaju notno pismo), zatim održavanje i naštimavanje gajdi, te izrada nekih dijelova. Gajdaška akademija će započeti s radom u Zagrebu početkom 2009. godine uvodnim vikend seminarom. Broj polaznika će biti ograničen na maksimalno 10 po terminu. Voditelji akademije su Stjepan Večković i Vjekoslav Martinić. www.gajde.com

Zvjezdan Draganić, Iva Cvrtila, Anja Šoštarić and Matea Kovačević from the Croatian Bagpipe Orchestra.

Playing at the 2nd Croatian Bagpipe Festival in Mihovljan near Zagreb in 2008. Note young bagpipe forces on the left. Croatian musical heritage is simply unbeleivable: dvojnice, roženice, okarine, gajde, dude, diple, ljerice, samice, etc. For more details see www.gajde.com . Playing in the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Croatia's capital Zagreb. Logo of the Croatian Bagpipe Orchestra. Mihael Večković, young bagpipe player. Many thanks to his father Stjepan for permission to use the above five photos.

Antun Božić, Marko First, Tomislav Gec, Zvjezdan Draganić, Iva Cvrtila, Anja Šoštarić and Matea Kovačević, a part of Croatian Bagpipe Orchestra. The orchestra now comprises 25 players from various parts of Croatia.

Croatian Bagpipe Orchestra: S one strane Dunava (From the other side of Danube) Croatian Bagpipe Orchestra - Hrvatski gajdaški orkestar (Gajdaško i Vilinsko kolo) Croatian Bagpipe Orchestra: Maramica na stazi (Handkerchief on the path) Croatian Bagpipe Orchestra: Udaranje u sare and Podravska   Croatian Bagpipe Orchestra: Aj, djevojka je molila svinjara   Marko playing dude (a sofisticated variant of gajde) in 2007 at a Folklore Festival in the village of Buševec near Zagreb

Đurđevičice choir from the town of Đurđevac singing beutiful, tender songs from Croatian north, accompanied with Stjepan Večković on the bagpipe.


Tomislav Livaja, a young bagpipe player from the village of Slakovci near the town of Vinkovci in Slavonia on the north of Croatia.


Hernando Zamora, Nelson Peruzo and Carlos Fernando Balanta, guests of the Festival from Bogota, Columbia.


Guests of the Festival arriving from Slovakia: Lubomir Tatarka and Andrej Babjar with their bagpipes.


Mladen and Klaudio Radolović from the town of Vodnjan, Istrian peninsula on the south-west of Croatia, playing roženice and mih (bagpipe).




Fantastic sound of bagpipes and tamburitzas.


Ivan Čupanov from Bulgaria playing bagpipe.


Mr. Antun Božić from the village of Antin in Slavonia, a region on the north of Croatia, playing samica, a lovely four string instrument. Mr. Božić has been invited to participate at a Folklore Festival in Moscow in September 2009.


In the mood...


Mihael Večković, the youngest bagpipe player at the Festival.


Please, go to the next page below.

According to Mr. Stjepan Večković from the Croatian National Folklore Ensemble LADO, there is no country in the world which has such a variety of different traditional musical instruments as Croatia. Here is a small selection of Croatian instruments, exhibited at the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb.

The pan flute in Croatian traditional musical heritage has a unique shape: it is symmetric and provides much richer tonal possibilities than the usual encountered in South America, Romania and elsewhere.

Members of the Croatian Bagpipe orchestra are from various parts of Croatia, each of them with a typical local costume.

Tomislav Livaja, a young bagpipe player from the village of Slakovci near the town of Vinkovci in Slavonia on the north of Croatia, in a beautiful national costume.

Roženice and bagpipe players Klaudio and Mladen Radolović  from the town of Vodnjan in Istrian penisula on the south-western part of Croatia. The melody is based on the famous Istrian scale. The sound of roženice is very penetrating.

Croatian Bagpipe Orchestra in Trešnjevka Cultural Center in Zagreb, 2009. Trešnjevka is a part of Zagreb the name of which can be translated as "Cherryland"

Antun Božić and Lidija Bajuk, a well known promotor of traditional Croatian singing. From a concert organized at the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb in December 2009.

Stjepan and Mihael Večković, father and son, playing Croatian bagpipes.

My sincere gratitude goes to Ms Lidija Bajuk, a well known Croatian singer, for her information that led to the creation of this web page devoted to little known Croatian bagpipe tradition. Also many thanks to Mr. Stjepan Večković, a very fine musician and brilliant lecturer, for providing me with essential information.