Five Years, Five Museums, Five Workshops – ”On Horseback to the Museums” Returns!

This autumn, it's all about the number five! For the fifth consecutive year, the Museums of the Croatian Zagorje are organising the museum education programme On Horseback to the Museums, offering children and their families the opportunity to explore museum heritage, learn through play and enjoy creative activities across five different workshops.

The museum educators and curators of the Museums of the Croatian Zagorje have once again joined forces to prepare a varied programme of activities that will fill autumn weekends with learning, play and creativity.

This year's programme will run from 7 November to 5 December 2026. Museum education workshops will take place over the first four weekends according to the published schedule, with each museum offering three sessions of its workshop. The programme will conclude with a traditional celebration at the “Old Village” Museum in Kumrovec, bringing everyone together ahead of St Nicholas' Day.

The central theme of the programme remains the horse, an animal that has played an important role throughout history in everyday life, transport, warfare, art and play. Each museum explores the subject from a different perspective, connecting its collections and heritage with creative activities designed for children.

At Veliki Tabor Castle, participants will explore the role of horses in transport, with a particular focus on horse-drawn carriages, while at the Antun Augustinčić Gallery, they will discover how horses have been depicted in art. The Krapina Neanderthal Museum will take them on a journey through the history and evolution of horses, while the Peasants' Revolts Museum will introduce them to the world of knights and warhorses. At the “Old Village” Museum in Kumrovec, they will discover how horses became popular children's toys.

Alongside gaining new knowledge, children will create and decorate their own wooden horses during the workshops. A specially designed museum education booklet will accompany them as they explore the museums.

How to Take Part

Taking part is easy! Simply choose the museum where you would like your child to attend their first workshop and register your attendance by email. Registration contacts and the workshop schedule can be found at the end of this announcement. They will also be published on the websites and social media channels of the Museums of the Croatian Zagorje and its individual museums.

Due to the nature and complexity of certain workshop activities, preschool children must be accompanied by at least one adult, while adult supervision is optional for school-age children. A maximum of two adults may accompany each child. The programme fee is charged per child only, with no additional charge for up to two accompanying adults.

A one-off programme fee of €20 per child is payable at the museum attended for the first workshop. The fee includes:

• A wooden horse to paint, decorate and personalise with various details, depending on the theme of each workshop.
• Participation in five different museum education workshops, one at each museum, at no additional cost.
• A museum education booklet with accompanying stickers.
• An invitation to the final celebration, on which each child writes their name and collects stamps as they attend the workshops. The signed invitation also serves as an entry into the grand prize draw. To qualify for the draw, children must collect at least three stamps by attending three different workshops.
• Admission to the permanent exhibitions of four museums within the Museums of the Croatian Zagorje for the participating child and up to two accompanying adults, at no additional cost. This benefit is a new feature of this year's programme.
• Participation in the final celebration, featuring a special programme, an opportunity to meet St Nicholas and Krampus, and the chance to win prizes.

The €20 fee is paid only once, at the first workshop, and covers all the activities and benefits listed above. Children may then attend workshops at the remaining museums at no additional cost. However, advance registration by email is required separately for each workshop (contact details are provided at the end of this announcement).

Admission to the permanent exhibitions is included for the participating child and up to two accompanying adults at Veliki Tabor Castle, the Antun Augustinčić Gallery and the Antun Augustinčić Gallery Studio, the Krapina Neanderthal Museum and the “Old Village” Museum in Kumrovec. The Peasants' Revolts Museum is excluded from this benefit as it is temporarily closed to visitors due to renovation works.

Families who have taken part in previous years are warmly invited to join us again! Additional activities and creative challenges have been prepared for returning participants as well as newcomers, so everyone is welcome, regardless of how many times they have participated before.

Final Celebration with St Nicholas

The programme's final celebration will take place on Saturday, 5 December 2026, at the “Old Village” Museum in Kumrovec, starting at 11 am.

All participants can look forward to a fun-filled gathering, with the opportunity to take part in any of the five creative workshops, enjoy horse riding and take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage.

St Nicholas and Krampus are expected to arrive at around 12.30 pm, bringing special gifts for the children. The grand prize draw will take place at 1 pm, with the main prize provided by the Ritam s konjem Centre in Stubičke Toplice. Additional prizes will also be awarded to children who have attended all five workshops.

Stamps can only be collected at workshops held before the final celebration. Children will be able to take part in creative workshops during the celebration itself, but no stamps will be awarded on that day. Participants will place their signed invitations with the stamps they have collected into the prize draw box, which will then be collected by St Nicholas. The winner of the grand prize will be drawn from the eligible entries.

Additional Information

Due to the ongoing renovation of the Peasants' Revolts Museum, its workshops will once again be held at Veliki Tabor Castle (Hum Košnički 1, Desinić).

The detailed workshop schedule, registration contacts and all other information will be available on the official Facebook and Instagram profiles of On Horseback to the Museums, as well as on the websites and social media channels of the Museums of the Croatian Zagorje and all its individual museums.

Join us, discover our museums from a different perspective and find out just how many fascinating stories one little wooden horse can tell!

Registration and Contact Information

GENERAL ENQUIRIES AND MEDIA CONTACT 
Jelena Šekrst (Curator at the Krapina Neanderthal Museum, Programme Coordinator): jelena.sekrst@mhz.hr

WORKSHOP REGISTRATION 
Veliki Tabor Castle – Karla Ivak (Curator): karla.ivak@mhz.hr
Antun Augustinčić Gallery – Petra Šoltić (Senior Museum Educator): p.soltic-gaa@mhz.hr
Krapina Neanderthal Museum – Mirjana Biljan (Museum Educator): mirjana.biljan@mhz.hr
Peasants' Revolts Museum – Josipa Pavlović Požgaj (Museum Educator): josipa.pavlovic@mhz.hr
“Old Village” Museum in Kumrovec – Tatjana Brlek (Museum Adviser, Final Celebration Organiser): tatjana.brlek@mhz.hr; Mateja Harapin (Museum Educator): mateja.harapin@mhz.hr

When registering for a workshop, please provide the child's full name and age, the full name of each accompanying adult, and your contact details (email address and mobile phone number). If you are unable to attend a workshop you have registered for, please let us know as soon as possible.