About us

KUD “Punat” Punat, CROATIA

The group was founded in 1973 and it has three different sections: folklore, tamburitza orchestra and a male choir or klapa “Rašketa”. The town of Punat has only 1,700 inhabitants and most of 70 members of the group are from there.
From the beginning the folk group leader and choreographer has been Mr. Stanko Mihajlović. The musician directors are Mr. Marijan Orlić for the instruments and Mr. Josip Blažević as a male choir leader .
Their repertoire focuses on local dances from the island of Krk, as well as on dances from the entire Croatia. Costumes are original and reflect the area where the performed dance comes from. They take great pride in the authenticity of the traditional dance of Krk Island they performs, and is probably the best interpret in the country.
The music this particualar dance is accompanied by is played on a small(thin) and large(thick) sopila, a typical medieval instrument, usually made of olive wood.
For more than 35 years, cultural club Punat toured around Croatia, Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, S.Korea, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico and Peru.
Mr. Stanko Mihajlović has been the permanent artistic director from the very beginning.
Mr. Branko Karabaić is a president of FG “Punat”.

RAŠKETA KLAPA (A HARMONY SINGING GROUP)

The klapa singing is a form of original male harmony-singing of the so-called Dalmatian songs related to Dalmatia’s poeticism and its original spirit. The songs are generally performed by a group – a klapa- consisting of 5 to 10 singers. The singing begins with asolo prelude sung by the first tenor, after which the rest of the singers join in, performing a harmonious background.
Klapa singing used to be associated with Dalmatian kaletas, cellars where people socialized and sang with wine and fish. Klapa songs are the same – spontaneous, easy to sing and to memorize, glorifying the beauty of Dalmatia, the coast and the islands, love, life and the sea. Modern-day klapa singing, arranged to perfection, is popular all along the coast and on the islands, representing the true musical richness of Croatia.