November 1, 2018 - On the Torre Guaceto beach in Brindisi, Italy, a bottle with a strip of this year's Herceg Novi Strip Festival was found, confirming the photograph in the hands of a certain Dominic, published on the FB page of the Italian branch of international organization Thalassia.
"We are very surprised. The Italian branch of the Wildlife Conservation Group Thalassia Coop put on its FB page that a certain Dominic had found a bottle with the strip inside. Everyone knows that over the last few days in Italy there was a great hurdle. They probably cleaned the beaches and the stormy south is covered with all sorts of rubbish. Among the waste was also our bottle with the strip. They posted a very nice comment on their FB site, where they tagged HSF. We could read the very nice words: "After the rain and the waves, the muddy rivers and winds from the storm... There are sea gifts!" They wrote this, with the gratitude that the Herceg Novi Strip Festival gave them this emotion, typical for some of the past times," said Herceg Novi Strip Festival's PR Nebojsa Mandić.
“On each of the comic strips in a bottle, down to the sea from the catamaran Trojan at the entrance to Boka Bay, the author's name and the marked edition of the festival are written in the English and Italian language. Therefore, it was not difficult for Italian "inventors" to identify who to thank for "the special emotion, typical for some of the past times". It's a comic that was drawn by Iztok Sitar, our friend and a faithful participant of all our manifestations in the city under Orjen“. Mandić emphasized that in their comment, Thalassia Coop mentions HFS as a well-known manifestation.
Herceg Novi Strip Festival is well-known in Italy
“The bottle was found in Brindisi, where 3-4 articles on the HSF were published last year. Also, in question is the Puglia region, where the great strip artist Walter Trono comes from, our friend and participant of the HSF events for the last three years. Thanks to Walter, Corriere Della Puglia has written several times about our festival so it is not unknown. Also, everybody knows that the Italian embassy in Montenegro has supported the Herceg Novi Strip Festival since its inception and has also presented us with the Carravagio Award. It is therefore not surprising that people from Thalassia Pool have recognized what this is about,“ marks one of the founders and the PR of the largest comic festival in the region, Nebojsa Mandić.
Herceg Novi Strip Festival already working on next edition
Although the 12th HSF was held less than two months ago, the team is already working to prepare for the 13th edition for next September.
"We do not stop working and we already have announced, and even confirmed guests. Of course, it is not yet time to announce their names, but I can say that, as it is the case for every new edition of the festival, we are taking another step forward in order to make an even bigger spectacle than the last. And this September, we really made a spectacle, we've been wounded by the success we have achieved. We ride on good energy, coming from all over Montenegro, especially from the city of Herceg Novi, which the festival has embraced as a party for all generations, as a joint project of the whole community. This is something that drives us and gives us new strength to do even better year after year," said Mandic.
Herceg Novi Strip Festival is one the greatest 9th Art Festivals in Europe
"There is no reason for false modesty - we have developed the HSF into one of the ten most important comic festivals in Europe, if not wider. Whoever has anything to do with strip, knows about HSF. The reason for this is surely the fact that our former guests were the top world artists. The reason for this is that we have officially declared William Simpson, the biggest star of today, the World's Ambassador of the HSF," Nebojsa Mandić concluded.
In Boka, there is the expression "the sea gives you everything you need." On the beach Torre Guaceto in Brindisi, the sea gave us the valuable artwork of Iztok Sitar, but also the beautiful emotions and a voice from the other side of the Adriatic. The HSF has confirmed that the sea has spread a good voice. Over the waves, the voice continues to echo.
