During my elementary school years I had to learn several poems by heart in my Slovenian language class. At the end of my last year we had to learn Zdravljica ("A Toast") by France Prešeren. Being a child, I understood the poem in my own special way and foremost, I found it difficult to learn due to its length. However, later that same year I recited that piece of poetry, which was to become Slovenia's national anthem, at a school celebration. My stage fright was as great as the celebration itself. After I managed to recite Zdravljica flawlessly, it suddenly lost some of its difficulty. Thus Culture Day celebrated on February 8, the date of Prešeren's death, remained in my memory because of that great celebration and because Slovenians were the only nation in former Yugoslavia to celebrate it.

My next encounter with Zdravljica was a more rocking one. In late 1980s, three legendary Slovenian rock singers, Zoran Predin, Peter Lovšin and Vlado Kreslin united for their own interpretation of the great poem. The first time I heard their version was at the last concert of the renowned rock group Pankrti and afterwards, we listened to it at every high school party.

Zdravljica became the national anthem of the independent Republic of Slovenia. National holidays have changed, but Culture Day remains - and with it, the great celebration at which performers perhaps feel at least a grain of my stage fright of years ago. Some of the winners of the prestigious Prešeren Award and the awards of the Prešeren Fund have not even tried concealing it. Among those is our interviewee, actor Zlatko Šugman, one of this year's two winners of the Prešeren Award. He will be awarded for his great acting opuses, including hilarious appearances in the finest Slovenian comedies. The other award winner is architect Vojteh Ravnikar, whose work abroad and at home has been inspired by Slovenia's Karst region.

This Friday, on the eve of Culture Day, Zdravljica will resound in Ljubljana's arts centre Cankarjev Dom. The following lines will echo through the land again: "God's blessing on all nations/Who long and work for that bright day,/When o'er earth's habitations/No war, no strife shall hold its sway;/Who long to see/That all men free/No more shall foes, but neighbours be". These lines make that day more than just another holiday with yet another celebration.

Gregor Krajc
Director
Government PR and Media Office