The fifth edition of the international event Night of Fortresses Goes Green was held on 8 and 9 May 2026 at 72 locations in 11 countries, with a total of 230 registered programmes. Once again, the event confirmed its role as a platform that connects organisers, heritage sites, local communities and visitors across Europe, with a special focus on education, sustainability, inclusion and cooperation.<\/b><\/p>\n
Night of Fortresses 2026 was held in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, Italy, Serbia, Czechia, Romania, Lithuania, Ukraine and Albania. The programmes took place at fortresses, old towns, museums, castles and other heritage sites, which became places for meeting, learning, exchanging experiences and creating new memories during the two-day event.<\/span><\/p>\n This year\u2019s programme showed continued growth in the programme part of the event. After 135 programmes in 2024 and 195 programmes in 2025, Night of Fortresses 2026 brought together 230 registered programmes. Still, the special value of this year\u2019s edition was not only in the number of programmes, but also in their content and in the way heritage sites were opened to the community.<\/span><\/p>\n The programme included 73 workshops and playrooms, 55 guided tours, 24 lectures, presentations, conferences, panel discussions and a fashion show, 23 concerts and music performances, 19 exhibitions, 14 clean-up and greening activities, and 9 sports events. In addition, the programme included a scientific and professional conference, gastro events, multimedia and light projections, films and theatre performances, medieval fairs, knight games and open days.<\/span><\/p>\n The educational, participatory and sustainable dimension of the event especially stood out. Many programmes focused on active participation of visitors, knowledge sharing and a better understanding of cultural heritage \u2014 through workshops, guided tours, interpretation activities, programmes for children, local communities and different groups of visitors. In this way, during the event, heritage sites became more than places to visit: they became spaces for shared learning, dialogue and reflection on how to make cultural heritage more accessible, understandable and sustainable.<\/span><\/p>\n An important part of this year\u2019s edition was the further development of the green and inclusive concept of the event. Through clean-up and greening activities, educational workshops, inclusive programmes and cooperation with local stakeholders, Night of Fortresses opened space for discussion about a more responsible attitude towards cultural and natural heritage. The focus was on heritage not only as a space of the past, but also as a space of participation, learning and joint action.<\/span><\/p>\n This year\u2019s edition had strong media visibility and public interest, further confirming the recognition of the event at the international level. The diversity of the programme, the involvement of new and existing partners, and the stronger focus on sustainability and inclusion show that Night of Fortresses continues to develop its role as a shared European platform for the interpretation, preservation and promotion of fortification and cultural heritage.<\/span><\/p>\n The event <\/span>Night of Fortresses Goes Green<\/b> once again showed that heritage is not only a space of the past, but also a space of cooperation, learning, responsibility and connection between local communities.<\/span><\/p>\n In Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, the event is supported and implemented through the project <\/span>GIFTSnet \u2013 Network for Green and Inclusive Fortified Tourism Solutions<\/b>, financed by the <\/span>Interreg IPA Croatia \u2013 Bosnia and Herzegovina \u2013 Montenegro 2021\u20132027 Programme<\/b>. The project started on 15 September 2024 and will last until 14 March 2027. The project leader is the <\/span>Public Cultural Institution Fortress of Culture \u0160ibenik<\/b>, with the following partners: City of Banja Luka, Municipality of Bar, City of Karlovac, Public Institution Museum of Herzegovina Trebinje and Municipality of Ulcinj.<\/span><\/p>\n The total value of the project is <\/span>EUR 2,244,442.80<\/b>, of which <\/span>85 percent is co-financed<\/b> by the <\/span>Interreg IPA Croatia \u2013 Bosnia and Herzegovina \u2013 Montenegro 2021\u20132027 Programme<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n GIFTSnet aims to improve the sustainable and inclusive development of cultural tourism in the programme area. The project includes environmentally friendly and sustainable investments at seven cultural and tourist locations in \u0160ibenik, Karlovac, Banja Luka, Trebinje, Bar and Ulcinj, the development of socially inclusive tourism offers, and the strengthening of capacities of cross-border stakeholders for the sustainable development of cultural tourism.<\/span><\/p>\n An important part of the project is focused on education, workshops and the exchange of experiences among partners and local stakeholders. Through this approach, GIFTSnet does not only support individual investments and activities, but also creates a framework for long-term cooperation, knowledge transfer and the development of new models for managing heritage sites. In this context, Night of Fortresses Goes Green serves as a joint platform for testing new ideas, developing sustainable practices, involving local communities and raising awareness of the importance of a responsible attitude towards cultural and natural heritage.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The fifth edition of the international event Night of Fortresses Goes Green was held on 8 and 9 May 2026 at 72 locations in 11 countries, with a total of 230 registered programmes. Once again, the event confirmed its role as a platform that connects organisers, heritage sites, local communities and visitors across Europe, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12862,"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12861\/revisions\/12862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nightoffortresses.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}