Festival Omladina (English: Youth Festival), also known as Omladinski Festival, is a music festival held in Subotica, Serbia. The festival was founded in 1961 as a competition of young composers of popular music. Their compositions were initially performed by pop singers, but soon the performers of competing compositions became rock bands. In the 1970s, the non-competitive part, featuring established rock acts, was added to the program, and in the 1980s the festival became a competition of young rock bands. During the years, some of the most notable acts of the Yugoslav pop and rock scene performed on the festival.
In 1990, at the beginning of the breakup of Yugoslavia, the festival ceased to exist. In 2011 the festival anniversary was celebrated with a concert of famous acts who made their first steps on the festival, and in 2012 the festival was reestablished.
The festival was founded by the members of Mladost (Youth) Society for Culture and Arts, as a competition of young popular music composers. More than 120 compositions by composers from all parts of Yugoslavia were sent to the competition, 9 of which were chosen to be performed at the festival. The festival was held on 4 and 5 December at the Subotica National Theatre. The songs were performed by young singers who were members of Mladost society. The youngest of them was six-year-old Evika Straà ¾arkoviÃÂ. The singers were accompanied by Mladost Brass and String Pop Orchestra conducted by Josip KovaÃÂ. The festival was recorded by Radio Belgrade.
Around 120 songs were submitted for competition with 10 of them chosen to be performed at the festival. They were performed by budding singers. The festival was held on 17 and 18 November in Subotica National Theatre. The jury featured Radio Television Belgrade journalists à ½ika DimitrijeviÃÂ, Stevan MarkiÃÂeviÃÂ, and Aleksandar KoraÃÂ, Mladost magazine journalist Gordana Jakovljeviàand Subotica city representatives Pavle BaÃÂiàand Josip KovaÃÂ. Each song was performed in two versions, by two different singers.
The festival was held during 13, 14 and 15 September in Subotica National Theatre. 224 compositions were sent to the contest, 16 of which were performed on the festival. The performers were accompanied by Mladost orchestra. Once again, every song was performed in two different versions.
The fourth edition of the festival was held from 14 to 16 May, in National Theatre. It was the first edition of the festival to be held in May, which would become a tradition in the following years. Eighteen songs were performed at the festival, once again in two different versions. The performers included some of the future stars of the Yugoslav pop scene, like Bisera VeletanliÃÂ, Zafir Hadà ¾imanov and Zoran Rambosek.
The fifth edition of the festival was held in Subotica National Theatre. Besides the Mladost society and Mladost magazine, the Society of Jazz and Pop Musicians and Ritam magazine also took part in the organization. The jury featured composers Bojan AdamiÃÂ, Vojislav SimiÃÂ and Aleksandar KoraÃÂ and poet Miroslav AntiÃÂ.
The sixth edition festival, held in Subotica National Theatre, featured 18 compositions performed by 21 artists. Once again, each song was performed in two versions, by two different singers.
The festival featured the very first public appearance by 17-year-old Kemal Monteno who would later go on to become one of Yugoslavia's most notable singer-songwriters.
The seventh edition of the festival, held in Subotica National Theater, was the first one to be broadcast by television. Twenty songs were performed at the festival, each by two different singers.
In the eighth edition of the festival, held at the Subotica National Theatre, 20 songs were performed, each by two different performers. It was the last edition organized by Mladost Society for Culture and Arts.
This was the first edition of the festival to include rock bands as performers, with the bands Dà ¾entlmeni and Zlatni Akordi performing songs by competing composers. The band Zlatni Akordi featured the then unknown singer Josipa Lisac, which was her only appearance at the festival.
The ninth edition of the festival was the first one to be organized by Subotica Culture Center and Radio Belgrade. It was also the first edition of the festival which was not held in Subotica National Theatre, but in Subotica Sports Hall, from 2 to 4 May. The jury consisted of former contestants, Kornelije KovaÃÂ, Lajoà ¡ Kurai, Jovan Adamov and Vojkan BorisavljeviÃÂ, and poet Petar PajiÃÂ. Until this edition of the festival, only the composers came from all parts of the country, while the performers were predominately the members of Mladost society; the ninth edition gave musicians from all parts of Yugoslavia the opportunity to perform, so the performers included established acts like Ibrica JusiÃÂ, Ivica Percl, Indexi, Delfini, Dà ¾entlmeni, Bele Vrane and others. From this edition of the festival the songs were performed in one version only.
As a part of the tenth anniversary celebration, the festival included a non-competitive part featuring performances by well known and less known rock acts. It was the first edition of the festival to feature a non-competitive program.
The Third Prize was awarded to Miodrag CokiÃÂ's composition "Kaà ¾u". On the final evening, during which the awarded compositions were performed once again, the performer of "Kaà ¾u", Duà ¡an PreleviÃÂ, went on the stage intoxicated. Because of this scandal he was banned from Radio Television Belgrade programs for a year.
In 1971, the festival was held in June. Twenty-two compositions were performed at the festival.
In 1972, the festival started on Youth Day (25 May), with a midnight concert. This was the first edition of the festival to feature, besides musical program, art exhibitions and poetry evenings.
The band LutajuÃÂa Srca, who won the First Prize, Audience's Choice First Prize and the Best Lyrics Award, were unable to perform on the final evening, so, on their recommendation, at the time little known singer-songwriter Nenad MilosavljeviÃÂ performed instead of them. The song "Mom bratu" was performed by sixteen year old Vesna ÃÂipÃÂiÃÂ, who would several years later start a successful acting career.
522 compositions were sent to the contest, more than to any of the previous editions. The performers were accompanied by Radio Television Belgrade Big Band, conducted by Bojan AdamiÃÂ.
On the fourteenth edition of the festival the Union of Composers of Yugoslavia Award was introduced.
The fifteenth edition of the festival was the first one organised by Subotica Youth Center and Radio Television Novi Sad. It was marked by an unusual move: all 22 competing compositions were proclaimed the winning compositions.
650 compositions were sent to the contest, from all parts of Yugoslavia, but also from Yugoslavs living abroad, 24 of which were chosen to compete at the festival. The festival was held in Subotica Sports Hall, in front of more than 5,000 spectators.
The festival featured three parts: the competition, rock evening, featuring well known and less known rock acts, and the evening of patriotic songs, entitled "Mladi pevaju Titu" ("Youth Sings to Tito"). The organizers decided to include the evening of patriotic songs in every future edition of the festival.
The eighteenth edition of the festival was held from 11 to 13 May, in Subotica National Theatre and Subotica Sports Hall.
Rani Mraz's performance on the evening of patriotic tunes would go on to become one of the most memorable moments in festival's history. On this occasion, the band for the first time publicly performed their song "RaÃÂunajte na nas" ("We Can Be Counted On"), whichâÂÂin addition to expressing devotion to the Yugoslav lifetime president Josip Broz TitoâÂÂpraises his guerrilla fighters' participation in World War II (known in the Yugoslav historiography as the People's Liberation War (NOB)) from the perspective of the country's youth born after World War II, embodied in the band and its 25-year-old singer ÃÂorÃÂe Balaà ¡eviàwho also authored the song. Despite not winning any of the prizes at the festival, the song left the biggest impression on its audience and would go on to wide-spread popularity in Yugoslavia.
Released as a seven-inch single later that year, "RaÃÂunajte na nas" became an unofficial anthem of the Yugoslav youth, receiving extensive air play in the country's electronic media. It would further be generally extolled in the country's public sphere as a positive example of the post-war communist youth respecting its elders and their "ultimate sacrifice in the struggle against fascism". The song further became omnipresent at various communist events, national holidays, and commemorative anniversaries in Yugoslavia such as the running of the Relay of Youth, Liberation Day, and Republic Day. Eventually, by the mid 1980s, the song would also be heard at student protests and political rallies via being chanted by protesters and political party activists. By 1987, its author and singer Balaà ¡eviÃÂâÂÂwho had by this point built a successful solo career in YugoslaviaâÂÂstopped performing the song live and semi-renounced it.
The nineteenth edition of the festival was held from 17 to 19 May. It was crucial in festival's transition from competition of young composers to competition of young rock acts. Prior to the nineteenth edition, unaffirmed rock bands were invited to perform at the festival, but only in the non-competitive part, with mostly pop, pop rock and soft rock acts competing for awards; in 1979, the organizers decided that from this edition all unaffirmed acts which were invited to perform would be competing for awards. The competition featured 37 compositions.
The bands Pekinà ¡ka Patka and Prljavo Kazalià ¡te were the first punk rock acts to perform at the festival. These two bands did not apply for the competition, but, alongside progressive rock band Boomerang and jazz rock band Den Za Den, got special invitation from the festival director Vitomir SimurdiÃÂ, who wanted the festival to move away from pop format. Boomerang won the First Prize, Pekinà ¡ka Patka won the Audience's Choice Second Prize, and Prljavo Kazalià ¡te was disqualified from the contest after performing gay-related song "Neki djeÃÂaci". Then little known musicians Robert FunÃÂiàand Vesna VrandeÃÂiÃÂ, who performed FunÃÂiÃÂ's song "Veruj mi" and won Audience's Choice First Prize, would two years later form the band Xenia.
Due to the death of Josip Broz Tito on 4 May, the twentieth edition of the festival was, instead in May, held in October. Twenty-four compositions competed for the awards. All three prizes by the jury and all three by the audience were given to rock bands. The festival anniversary was celebrated with performances of numerous artists who received acknowledgment after appearing on the festival: Bisera VeletanliÃÂ, Dalibor Brun, Kemal Monteno, Tomaà ¾ Domicelj, LutajuÃÂa Srca, Miladin à  obiÃÂ, Jadranka StojakoviÃÂ, Leb i Sol, Boomerang and others. On its anniversary, the festival received numerous accolades: the Seven Secretaries of SKOJ Award, the Liberation of Subotica Award, the Radio Belgrade Golden Microphone Award, the PGP-RTB Silver Plaque, the FIDOF Award and several others.
The twentieth edition of the festival is notable as one of the most important moments in the history of Yugoslav new wave scene, as it included performance of some of the most notable new wave acts from Belgrade and Zagreb: Ã Â arlo Akrobata, Idoli, ElektriÃÂni Orgazam, Film and Haustor. As on the previous edition of the festival, young bands did not apply for the competition, but got special invitations from the festival director Vitomir SimurdiÃÂ. Other bands which got the invitation were the jazz rock band Na Lepem Prijazni and ska band Kontraritam. Film would be Awarded the First Prize, Ã Â arlo Akrobata the Second Prize and Idoli the Audience's Choice Third Prize. The organizers initially did not take ElektriÃÂni Orgazam into consideration, but were persuaded to include the band into the program by Riblja ÃÂorba leader Bora ÃÂorÃÂeviÃÂ. ElektriÃÂni Orgazam caused a scandal with their performance, which included damaging microphones and cymbals and destroying colored light bulbs which were part of the scenery, and were disqualified from the competition.
On the twenty-first edition of the festival the Journalists' Award for Best Lyrics was introduced.
The competitors included young new wave bands Petar i Zli Vuci, Stidljiva LjubiÃÂica, Modeli, LaÃÂni Franz, Buldogi, Piloti, Termiti, ÃÂista Proza and La Strada, all of them later becoming notable acts of the Yugoslav rock scene.
At the twenty-third edition of the festival, held from 19 to 26 May, 36 compositions competed for awards. On this edition, rock compositions and pop compositions were finally separated. Two separate competitions were held: Rock Evening and Schlager Evening.
The hard rock band Kerber, which won the Rock Evening First Prize, would two months after the festival release their debut album and become one of the most popular bands on the Yugoslav hard rock scene. The best Interpretation Award was won by little-known young singer Mladen VojiÃÂiÃÂ of the band Top, who would a year later gain nationwide popularity when he became the new singer of Bijelo Dugme.
The twenty-fourth edition of the festival was held from 17 to 20 May. A smaller number of awards was given than during the previous editions, partially due to funding problems. On the Rock Evening, for the first time the award was given to the band for their complete performance, not for one composition.
The First Prize on the rock evening was won by the band Automobili. The prize included the recording of a studio album. As they were already working in studio on their debut album, they decided to give up on the prize in favor of the runner-up, the band Beta Centaury. With the release of their debut album later that year Automobili would rise to popularity. The band Zabranjeno Puà ¡enje was invited to perform in the non-competitive part, but refused due to the fact that their applications from the time when they were an unaffirmed band were regularly refused.
In 1986, the concept of competition of composers was officially abandoned, the festival was renamed to Festival pop i rok muzike (Festival of Pop and Rock Music) and became a competition of young unaffirmed bands.
The 1987 edition of the festival was marked by the jury's decision that all the bands which entered the finals â KUD Idijoti, Indust Bag, Mizar, Tuà ¾ne Uà ¡i and Grad â are the winners. With the exception of Tuà ¾ne Uà ¡i, all of the bands would rise to prominence, KUD Idijoti becoming one of the most notable punk rock bands and Mizar one of the most notable dark wave bands on the Yugoslav scene. The alternative rock band Center Za Dehumanizacijo, which would later also rise to prominence, also competed, but did not manage to enter the finals.
The non-competitive part included notable rock acts â ElektriÃÂni Orgazam, Gast'r'bajtr's, Kerber, Bambinosi, Autopsia, Tutti Frutti Balkan Band â as well as acts which would rise to fame in the following years â Zijan, Dr. Steel, Let 3, Blues Trio, Vrisak Generacije, GrÃÂ, Cacadou Look.
Both the First Prize and the Audience's Choice Award were won by the band Zijan, which, a year later, also won both the First Prize and the Audience's Choice Award at the ZajeÃÂar Gitarijada Festival.
As Yugoslav Wars started in 1991, this edition of the festival would be the last before the anniversary edition in 2011.
In 2011, in order to mark the festival's 40th anniversary, a concert was held in Subotica Sports Hall, featuring numerous artists who gained first acknowledgements after their appearance on the festival. The performers were accompanied by orchestra led by Gabor Bunford. The bands LutajuÃÂa Srca, Suncokret and Rezonansa all made reunions just for this occasion, while the band Generacija 5 reunited in the original lineup.