We Were the First to Taste This Year’s Fuliranje Offer!

The most beloved Advent event in Zagreb, Fuliranje, this winter at Trg Josipa Jurja Strossmayera brings the theme Nature and Society, inspired by environmental care, curiosity, and creativity. According to the organizers from the creative agency Kokoš ili Jaje, this will be the most engaged, most creative, and most playful Fuliranje in its 13 years. In a blend of tradition and modernity, Strossmayer Square will transform into a charming open-air classroom, enriched with original installations and a special Fuliranje Nature and History Trail that reveals the history of Zagreb through stories about Strossmayer, Lenuci, Bollé, and other greats in a new, fun way.

The Culinary Highlight of Advent

Fuliranje remains the gastronomic highlight of Advent. We will be greeted by 16 stalls offering the most diverse selection of food and drinks. These include: Noel*, Dante Tapas & More, Pastamisee, Gdje je Jura by Klepić Juraj, Strikoman’s Bistro, SpudBud, Buncek, Picnic Mingle&Fun, chef Mario Mihelj, Institut za kobasice by Mate Janković, Mama Zakucava, Chefs burger by Ivan Pažanin, Pizza Social Club, Brûlée Bar, GingleBells, and Rakijarnica.

To confirm that this winter at Strossmayer Square we can expect a truly rich selection of festive treats and top-quality drinks, we had the opportunity to taste this year’s pre-premiere gastronomic offer of Fuliranje held on Monday, November 17, at Metro Jankomir. While we enjoyed welcome drinks curated by Rakijarnica, where we were particularly delighted by the cooked wormwood, the participants of Fuliranje skillfully prepared their specialties in the GourMetro kitchen and presented us with one dish from their rich offer.

A Celebration for the Palate

We started the tasting with the Picnic Mingle & Fun stall, which impressed us with its incredibly juicy Pastrami (a sandwich with thinly sliced dried and smoked beef brisket, melted cheese, sautéed sour cabbage, and smoked mayonnaise, served in sourdough bread by Boogie Bakery).

The talented duo Ante and Danilo from Trešnjevka’s Dante Tapas & More prepared for us Baošticadu, or Dalmatian pašticada in bao bread, and revealed that at Fuliranje they will also offer Croquetas de Jamon (croquettes with jamon ham), Señor spicy sausage with sauce and roasted corn in somun, Patatas Bravas, and Christmas Sangria.

Next was a rhapsody of flavors from the Buncek stall, backed by an enthusiastic team that lives for festivals and loves unpretentious food. After the “Cuban sandwich” stall at Foodballerci and the “Berlin” stall at Fuliranje in Kurelčeva, they decided it was time for a new star – buncek in four global interpretations. In perfect panuozzo bread, the offer will include classic Croatian buncek with greens and horseradish sauce, then Korean with kimchi, American Bacon Jam with iceberg lettuce, tomato, and pickles, and Italian Don Prasco, which they prepared at the pre-tasting and completely won us over with a combination of dijonaisse sauce, homemade buncek, salsa verde, and apple-fennel-rocket salad with pesto rosso sauce.

Noel* will this year at Fuliranje offer original delicacies in a funky-holiday format, with a standard of a name that carries a Michelin star, and chef Ivan Temšić presented to us in advance the PigRoll (brioche bun, roasted pork, homemade pickles, young onion mayonnaise, caramelized apple ketchup), and revealed that at Strossmayer Square there will also be Purica 2.0 (naan bread, roasted turkey, aioli, pomegranate gel, crispy onion), “Krpice sa zeljem” (tacos, smoked buncek, sweet cabbage, roasted pepper salsa, cracklings, sour cream), and Buča (fried hokkaido, miso mayonnaise, pickled apples, chili oil, and pumpkin seeds).

The Strikoman’s Bistro from Vodice is making its debut at Zagreb’s Advent this year and brings top-notch, creative street food specialties to Fuliranje. They will offer tuna goulash, juicy porchetta sandwich, recognizable Strikoman beef tartar, and Octo-Dog, octopus in crispy tempura served in a hot dog bun, which we enjoyed at the pre-tasting.

Fuliranje’s Highlights

One of Fuliranje’s highlights will certainly be the ultra-popular Spud Bud, which, in addition to its hits, will exclusively offer two festive dishes at Fuliranje: sekeli goulash and torn buncek with sautéed greens and horseradish sauce, which we had the privilege to taste first.

The Pastamisee stall will again prepare fresh pasta in Grana Padano cheese rounds. Along with two classics, the famous Italian Cacio e pepe and pasta with freshly grated truffles, they are introducing a third pasta – Bolognese, a dish that kids and adults alike will simply adore. “We are ready for a new Fuliranje! Crowds, laughter, heaps of fine food and drinks… We can’t wait for it to start. We have been diligently cooking and testing recipes for Bolognese all summer and can say we have perfected it”, the team from the Pastamisee stall announces.

Chef Mario Mihelj will win the audience at Fuliranje with powerful and creative skewers, and we were delighted by the skewers N’duja.

We were also greatly entertained by the announcement from the Mama Zakucava stall. This mama, they say, rocks in the kitchen and for Fuliranje has prepared three league-defying dishes: stuffed breaded peppers, hunter’s goulash of wild boar and venison in bao buns, and homemade dumplings with plum jam in a secret sauce. We can’t wait to taste them. Pizza Social Club introduced us to Calzone pizza with leeks and N’duja pizza. The Institute for Sausages by Mate Janković has once again proven that they are unmatched when it comes to sausage offerings at Advent, this time receiving universal approval with kranjska sausage. Pažanin’s Chef’s burger will ensure that excellent comfort food with a Mediterranean touch is not lacking, and at the pre-tasting, he offered his hit Crispy kapulu.

Among the novelties that will certainly attract great public interest is the Brûlée Bar stall, which announces a combination of sweets, cream, and fire. Juraj Klepić will again at the Gdje je Jura stall cause general euphoria as he brings the latest viral hit – the TikTok sensation Tortu Matilda, which we tasted with supernatural joy, just like last year’s hit Dubai fritule.

Excellent food, creative drinks, and cocktails will be accompanied by an unprecedentedly rich educational and humanitarian program. During these holidays, Fuliranje, in collaboration with the Crumbs platform, will daily allocate 15 portions of food, actively participating in reducing food waste and promoting sustainable habits, while ensuring access to quality food for everyone at significantly lower prices. The beneficiaries of the UNUO Association will have the opportunity to cook with chef Temšić at the Noel* stall, and the proceeds will support the work of the Association, which empowers people with disabilities, children without adequate parental care, and children and youth in vulnerable situations through the art of gastronomy. Every Saturday, the Ladies First program will take place, featuring female DJs and the choir Sve za nju. Together, they will raise public awareness at Fuliranje about the prevention and fight against malignant diseases in women in collaboration with the Sve za nju association, for which donations will be collected.

Doctor Nepalac

In collaboration with the Zagreb City Pensioners’ Association, every Monday will be dedicated to Supersenior citizens. Our grandmothers and grandfathers will thus be able to dance to the hits of their youth, performed live by Miro Ungar, Kristijan Beluhan, and the Ajngemahtec band, ŠLEPER ŠLAGER band, Robert Mareković, and the Swingers band, but retirees will also participate in the program and perform the play Doctor Nepalac directed by Vinko Štefanac, and all visitors will be delighted by the performance of KUD Valentinovo with a festive program.

Excitement about Fuliranje began even before the official opening, as an attractive competition, the ART Waste Challenge, is already underway for young artists up to 35 years old, who have the opportunity to propose a solution for a temporary public sculpture made exclusively from recycled materials from previous editions of the festival, in collaboration with HDLU and with the support of METRO, which provides a prize of 4,000 euros gross. All details of the competition are available at the link. The expert jury of Fuliranje and HDLU will select the best solution by November 20. The unveiling of the sculpture at Trg J. J. Strossmayera will be on December 12, and the work will be exhibited until the end of the festival on January 7, 2026, after which it will go into permanent ownership of METRO.

Special attention is, of course, devoted to content for the youngest, which includes children’s performances, choirs, and workshops, gatherings with Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus, and fun outdoor learning along the Nature and History Trails. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, schoolchildren will have Zero Waste workshops in collaboration with Zelena Akcija, and lectures on Clean Underground. All generations will be delighted by the news that popular free dance workshops are returning to Fuliranje, which we enjoyed at Fiesta Latina. Thus, we will again shake our hips to Latin rhythms on Thursdays with excellent dance instructors.

We just have to wait for November 26 when Fuliranje kicks off with a warm-up part ahead of the official opening of Advent, and enjoy the wealth of flavors, aromas, smiles, and gatherings until January 7, rediscovering why Fuliranje has been writing the most beautiful Advent stories of Zagreb for 13 years.

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Location: Trg Josipa Jurja Strossmayera, Zagreb

Duration: November 26, 2025, to January 7, 2026.

Working hours: Mon-Fri 12:00 – 24:00 h/Sat-Sun 11:00 – 24:00 h

Christmas 17:00 – 24:00 h

St. Stephen’s Day 12:00 – 24:00 h

New Year’s Eve 12:00 – 00:03 h

New Year 17:00 – 24:00 h

Entry: free