Workshops, horses and Saint Nicholas attracted many visitors to the finale of the ”On Horseback to the Museums” program

The end of the year in the Museums of Hrvatsko Zagorje also marks the end of the museum-educational program On Horseback to the Museums, whose final ceremony is traditionally held at the beginning of December in the "Old Village" Museum Kumrovec.

The closing ceremony of the program delighted everyone present, primarily children and parents. Visitors had the opportunity to enjoy the rich and diverse program, as well as the appropriate holiday atmosphere, since this year's ceremony, also the fourth in a row, was held on December 6, the day of Saint Nicholas. In addition to the opportunity to participate in five different workshops of the On Horseback to the Museums program, young and old alike socialized with horses, tried their hand at horse riding, and rode in a carriage. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the arrival of Saint Nicholas and Krampus, who delighted the children by distributing gifts and taking photos together. The Museums of Hrvatsko Zagorje were also grateful to the most diligent participants, and after St. Nicholas, their employees awarded children who participated in a total of four or five workshops in the program from November 8 to 30. At the end of the ceremony, a drawing was held for the main prize, which was provided by the Center Ritam s konjem from Stubičke Toplice. This prize is always chosen randomly, as luck would have it, and this year it went to the girl Akaria Bakek, whose invitation was drawn as the winning one from the special box.

Many people are responsible for the most successful and most visited closing ceremony so far – Saint Nicholas and Krampus were embodied by members of the Ethno Association Kolovrat, OPG Kolman from Tuhelj once again provided the horses and carriage, employees of the Center Ritam s konjem Josip Knezić and Ivan Veček are responsible for the horse riding and the main prize, and the best hosts were once again the employees of the "Old Village" Museum Kumrovec with their manager Anita Paun-Gadža.

The museum-educational program On horseback to the Museums was held this year in a somewhat shorter form, from November 8 to December 6. The first four weekends in that period were reserved for workshops in all units of the MHZ (each museum conducted a total of three workshops during those weekends according to a pre-agreed schedule), while on Saturday, December 6, the closing ceremony was held in Kumrovec. The common theme of the program was the horse, which, through workshops and a museum-educational publication, each of the organizational units of the Museums of Hrvatsko Zagorje dealt with in a different way, with a corresponding sub-theme. Workshop participants at the Veliki Tabor Castle learned more about the use of horses for transportation, with a special emphasis on carriages, at the Antun Augustinčić Gallery they dealt with horses in art, while at the Krapina Neanderthal Museum they heard about the past and evolution of horses. The Museum of Peasants' Revolts told the story of military horses and knights, and the "Old Village" Museum Kumrovec about horses as traditional wooden toys.

Apart from the finale, which, according to current estimates, was visited by over a hundred people, this year's edition of the entire program also surpassed the previous one, regardless of the fact that it was a week shorter. A total of sixty children participated in all workshops, of which nineteen were in four or five of them, for which they were additionally awarded. The biggest difference is in the number of attendees at the workshops, which, looking at all organizational units of the Museums of Hrvatsko Zagorje, totals 151. Such an excellent response is, above all, the result of the work of Sven Šams, Head of Marketing and Public Relations at the Museums of Hrvatsko Zagorje.

The program, with the support of the director Jurica Sabol, was once again successfully implemented by the employees of the MHZ: Petra Šoltić (senior museum educator of the Antun Augustinčić Gallery), Lorka Lončar Uvodić and Mirjana Biljan (museum advisor educator and museum educator of the Krapina Neanderthal Museum), Josipa Pavlović Požgaj (museum educator of the Museum of Peasants' Revolts), Tatjana Brlek and Mateja Harapin (museum advisor and museum educator of the "Old Village" Museum in Kumrovec) and Jelena Šekrst (curator of the Veliki Tabor Castle and program coordinator).

Thank you to all the little creatives, riders, parents and collaborators who enriched this year's program On Horseback to the Museums with their participation and joy and made it the best one yet. We are already looking forward to the next meetings and invite you to join us next year. For now, all we can reveal is that we are preparing some new, even more fun museum adventures!