The Old Vine Festival is a culinary and cultural tribute to the oldest vine in the world, which grows on Lent, the oldest part of Maribor. The Old Vine is the pride of Maribor, Styria, and Slovenia. For all our visitors, it is the entrance to our extraordinary rich wine tradition and successful stories of our winegrowers.

 

From the ceremonial grape harvest of the Old Vine at the beginning of October until the biggest celebration of St. Martin’s Day in Slovenia on 11 November, Styria will yet again celebrate the symbol of Slovenian wine and persistence. We will organise numerous events where we will taste wine, toast with it and simply have a good time. You are most warmly welcome!

 

 

The Old Vine Festival offers you the opportunity to get to know the best Styrian and Slovenian winemakers. You are welcome to the temple of Slovenian wine-growing tradition and culture, the Old Vine House, for a wine and culinary evenings or to the festival stalls where you can taste excellent Styrian wines accompanied by an entertainment program. As part of the Old Vine Festival, the famous VinDel will be held, the International Wine & Delicacy Salon as well as the Salon of Styrian Young Wines Pubec. The festival concludes with the largest outdoor celebration of St. Martin’s Day in Slovenia.

 

 

The Old Vine Festival is the perfect experience for both lovers of authentic, traditional dishes as well as for real gourmets. Local chefs offer their variants of Old Vine tastings - something you can experience only in Maribor at the time of the Old Vine Festival. To the hustle and bustle of city streets and markets, a culinary marketplace emerges with cheesemakers and beekeepers, a cheese and organic farms feast, cooking in kettles and other culinary delights offered among the festival’s stalls.

 

 

In addition to the culinary and wine-coloured events of the Old Vine Festival, there are those known for maintaining the city’s rich traditions and culture. One of the biggest festivals and citywide holidays is the traditional, solemn grape harvest of the oldest vine in the world; Maribor rafters present their heritage and local guides take you on guided thematic tours of the town. St. Martin's Day in Maribor is not only the largest St. Martin's celebration in Slovenia, but an opportunity for wine queens and knights, grape pickers, peasant women, rafters and folklorists to come together and thank nature for autumn crops and the day on which St. Martin turns must into wine.

 

 

You can enhance your festival experience by exploring the rich cultural offerings of the European Capital 2012, or go out into the picturesque countryside and freely explore places where you will be pampered with exceptional hospitality and authentic cuisine while you will enjoy many outstanding views.