Features
Burned-Out Sea
It appears Croatia’s Burning Sea will miss another year in 2014, although the festival isn’t saying why next year’s gathering has been shelved.
“It is too early. We would like people to forget about the cancellation,” was festival producer Boban Milunovic’s explanation.
The event had previously made it clear that it expects to return in 2015 and is intent on “getting it right this time.”
This year’s Burning Sea, scheduled to happen in Zadar June 5-8, was scrapped when the Croatian government hiked the VAT rate to 25 percent.
Milunovic sold tickets without charging VAT, something he’d previously been able to do because cultural events such as festivals were exempt from the tax.
When the festival realized it’d lose money even if it sold out, it decided to pull the plug. That decision was made before the Croatian government responded to lobbying and cut the VAT rate to 5 percent.