Vukovar Tonight: Thompson Concert Draws 100,000 Fans

In brief

• Marko Perkovic Tompson’s concert starts tonight at 8 p.m. in the Vukovar Economic Zone, with gates opening at 5 p.m.
• Mayor Marijan Pavlicek expects more than 100,000 people in the city
• Every room in Vukovar and the surrounding area is booked, and some guests are staying across the border in Serbia
• Special traffic rules run from Thursday through Sunday, with parking arranged for around 30,000 vehicles

When the Marko Perkovic Tompson concert kicks off in Vukovar tonight, part of the more than 100,000 announced guests will not be sleeping in Croatia at all, but in neighboring Serbia. Every hotel room and private rental in the city and its surroundings sold out days before the show, and according to the city of Vukovar, visitors have found beds with friends or in towns farther away, including on the Vojvodina side of the border, where accommodation is cheaper. For the Serbian border region, that means a night of full hotels and private rooms on the eve of one of the biggest gatherings anywhere in the region this year.

The concert takes place on Saturday, August 29, at 8 p.m., in the Vukovar Economic Zone, with the gates opening to the public at 5 p.m. Mayor Marijan Pavlicek said ahead of the show that the city expects more than 100,000 people, while noting that not everyone in that number will actually be inside the concert grounds, since some are coming simply to soak up the atmosphere around the venue. Nearly 80,000 tickets sold on the first day alone, and the final total had not been announced by tonight, since sales continued through social media as well.

Why Are Some Guests Sleeping in Serbia?

The answer is simple: there is not a free bed left in Vukovar or its surroundings. According to available figures, the city filled every available room days before the concert, pushing visitors to look farther afield, including in towns across the border in Serbia, where prices are lower than in Vukovar itself. Restaurants and bars in the city have extended their working hours until 4 a.m. to handle the crowds.

Pavlicek also had this to say before the concert.

“The city will be safe for all citizens of Vukovar, regardless of whether someone likes Thompson or does not.”

He added that the city would not hide the costs of putting on the event.

“The City of Vukovar will show the public what its costs were and what its revenues were,” the mayor said.

In a statement to reporters ahead of the concert, Pavlicek called the show historic for the city.

“I invite all well meaning people to come to Vukovar and have a good time. This will be the biggest concert in the history of Vukovar. The people who listen to this kind of music are not people who hate. They are people who value the homeland and the sacrifice of Vukovar.”

What Is the Traffic Plan?

Special traffic and parking rules around the concert grounds apply from Thursday through Sunday. Visitors arriving from outside Vukovar have two main routes: national road D55, coming from Zupanja via Vinkovci, and national road D2, coming from Osijek. Organized parking for visitors’ vehicles covers roughly 19 hectares by one estimate, with capacity for more than 30,000 cars according to another figure, and the farthest lots sit about 1.3 kilometers from the concert zone. Security is being handled by officers from the Vukovar Police Station, the Vukovar-Srijem Police Administration and other police units, along with stewards and emergency services.

Organizers have also described the concert as having a charitable dimension. Half of the proceeds, after costs are covered, go toward building the “12 Croatian Police Officers” football stadium and a Salesian student dormitory in Zagreb.

Political Pushback From the Serb Minority

Ahead of the concert, the Independent Democratic Serb Party called for the decision to hold the show in Vukovar specifically to be reconsidered, arguing that the city, given its complicated history from the 1990s, needs efforts to ease tensions rather than events that could inflame them further. The party’s position did not change the city government’s decision, and preparations continued on the plan Pavlicek laid out at his press conference.

According to unofficial previews, tonight’s program includes 34 songs, along with a segment in which a large number of drones above Vukovar are meant to form images in the night sky. Whether the city will really see the more than 100,000 people it announced, and what the night will look like in the Serbian towns nearby where guests have found beds, will only be clear once the visitors who stayed until morning are counted.