Summer in Slovenia’s historic towns is once again marked by FEST MEST, a joint festival of cultural experiences organised under the auspices of the Association of Historic Towns of Slovenia. The festival brings together outstanding exhibitions, theatre performances, concerts and other cultural events in historic town centres. It offers visitors the opportunity to discover high-quality cultural experiences throughout Slovenia and experience cultural heritage where it truly belongs – in historic towns.
The festival is organised by the Association of Historic Towns of Slovenia, which was established on 12 June 2001 in Ptuj at the initiative of the mayors of the first six historic towns: Idrija, Koper, Piran, Ptuj, Škofja Loka and Tržič. Today, the association brings together 24 Slovenian historic towns, including Novo Mesto, which has been actively involved in creating its joint projects and promotional activities for many years.
Watch the promotional video of Novo Mesto:
The association’s mission extends far beyond joint tourism promotion. Its aim is to preserve cultural heritage, revitalise and strengthen historic town centres, and develop cultural tourism, with the towns working together to ensure that visitors recognise the wealth of cultural experiences available throughout Slovenia. For more than two decades, the association has demonstrated that outstanding culture is not found only in the capital, but that historic towns are also important cultural centres, hosting exceptional exhibitions, concerts, theatre performances and other high-quality artistic events.
The association works closely with the Slovenian Tourist Board in promoting Slovenia’s historic towns. Together, they present Slovenia’s cultural offering at domestic and international tourism fairs, including the Alpe-Adria fair, one of the most important tourism fairs in Slovenia. They also organise presentations for tourism businesses and tour operators and host study visits for international journalists and other content creators. One such visit was a study tour focusing on archaeology in 2023, during which participants also visited Novo Mesto and discovered its rich archaeological heritage.
The association’s work goes beyond promoting the cultural offerings of historic towns, as it is also actively involved in addressing questions related to their long-term development. At the association’s annual general meeting in Novo Mesto in 2025, the Association of Historic Towns of Slovenia, the Association of Urban Municipalities of Slovenia and the Association of Municipalities of Slovenia signed an important agreement on a joint approach entitled For the Life and Development of Town Centres. The agreement represents a commitment to jointly seeking solutions for the revitalisation of town centres, adapting them to contemporary needs and ensuring that historic centres remain attractive, high-quality and vibrant environments for both residents and visitors.
In addition to FEST MEST, the association runs a number of other successful joint projects. Among the best known is the promotional campaign Travel by Train for Culture! To the Historic Towns of Slovenia, which encourages sustainable exploration of Slovenia’s historic towns by train. Another important initiative is the School of Renovation project. Since 2015, it has helped preserve knowledge and expertise related to the high-quality renovation of built heritage, bringing together experts, craftspeople and educational institutions and recognising exemplary heritage restoration projects. The City Municipality of Novo Mesto also received a special School of Renovation award in 2024 for the comprehensive renovation of the Fichtenau House at 2 Glavni trg (images above), which is now home to new apartments and a shop selling local products by Dobrote Dolenjske. This year, the School of Renovation project achieved another major European success, receiving the prestigious 2026 Europa Nostra Award in the category of Education, Training and Skills – the highest European recognition in the field of cultural heritage, awarded by the European Commission and Europa Nostra.
Novo Mesto is not merely one of the members of the Association of Historic Towns of Slovenia, but also an active partner in its work. In previous years, the town has hosted the School of Renovation awards ceremony and the association’s annual general meeting, and has participated in numerous joint promotional projects, study visits, international presentations and campaigns in cooperation with the Slovenian Tourist Board. In this way, Novo mesto makes an important contribution to raising the profile of Slovenia’s historic towns both at home and abroad and to the development of cultural tourism.
Three Cultural Highlights of Summer 2026 in Novo mesto
This year, Novo mesto is once again represented as part of FEST MEST with three outstanding cultural events organised by the Dolenjska Museum, Anton Podbevšek Theatre and Zavod Novo Mesto in cooperation with LokalPatriot.
Since 20 June 2026, the Dolenjska Museum has been hosting the exhibition Rock Otočec – A Piece of Paradise, taking visitors on a journey through the history of one of Slovenia’s most recognisable music festivals. Featuring an extensive collection of photographic and archival material, the exhibition presents the development of the Rock Otočec festival, its influence on the Slovenian music scene and the memories of generations of festival-goers. The exhibition will be on display until 8 February 2027.
The festival programme also includes the Anton Podbevšek Theatre production Losing Humanity: The Sad Secrets of Srebrenica. This powerful performance raises questions of memory, responsibility and humanity and will return to the theatre’s programme in September 2026 following successful previous performances.
The summer’s musical highlight will take place on 21 August 2026, when the Jonathan Kreisberg Trio will perform as part of the 26th International Jazzinty Festival. One of today’s leading contemporary jazz guitarists will be joined by two outstanding musicians for a concert that is set to be one of the key musical events of this summer.
Novo Mesto – An Important Contributor to the Festival
Novo Mesto has been an important contributor to the FEST MEST festival for many years. In previous editions, the festival programme has featured numerous acclaimed cultural events, including the opera musical Kette by the Janez Trdina Cultural Centre, concerts by the Novo Mesto Summer Festival, outstanding performances at the Jazzinty Festival, theatre productions by the Anton Podbevšek Theatre, exhibitions at the Dolenjska Museum and many other events that enrich the cultural life of the historic town centre.
The diversity of the festival programme confirms that Novo Mesto is not only a guardian of a rich cultural heritage, but also a town of contemporary creativity. Through its membership in the Association of Historic Towns of Slovenia and participation in its joint projects, Novo mesto makes an important contribution to the promotion of Slovenian culture.
FEST MEST therefore remains an important example of cooperation between Slovenia’s historic towns. It demonstrates that historic towns are not merely guardians of the past, but living spaces where heritage meets contemporary art, creativity and community life. Once again this year, Novo Mesto is proud to contribute to the festival story and invites visitors to discover its cultural highlights.