Weekend.19 – Mate Rimac, Jack Kreindler, Ulrik Haagerup and Emil Tedeschi Are Coming to Rovinj
Zagreb, 3 July 2026 – At the Bubbles Bar in Zagreb’s Zonar Hotel, part of the programme of Weekend.19 was unveiled. From 24 to 27 September, the festival will once again transform Rovinj into a meeting place for leaders from the worlds of media, business, technology, healthcare, finance, investment, energy, education and human resources. The largest edition of Weekend to date will feature eight festival segments, four days of conversations, ideas and inspiration, and dozens of Croatian and international speakers.
“Weekend has long outgrown the framework of a communications and media festival and today represents a unique platform connecting different industries, experts and ideas. It is precisely this diversity that makes Weekend such a distinctive place for bringing together people, ideas and industries,” said Tomo Ricov, director of Weekend.19, which is once again being held under the patronage of Maistra and Mastercard.
Weekend.19: Topics Shaping Society
Weekend.19 will bring a series of current topics examining the state of the media landscape, journalism and society. Why Croatians are increasingly avoiding the news, and whether we truly are world champions in doing so, will be explored in the panel “Nothing Will Ruin My Day!”. Visitors can also look forward to the lecture “The Economy of Words: Why Words Have Become the Most Important Currency of a Brand”, delivered by psychologist Boris Šurija, while the panel “DNOVINARI: Who Wants to Destroy Journalism?” will open a discussion on the challenges and pressures facing contemporary journalism. Another topic in the programme will address the increasingly relevant question of whether our media habits are changing irreversibly, through a discussion inspired by Plenković’s well-known statement: “Today, no one buys newspapers, listens to the radio or watches television.”
Among the new names arriving in Rovinj are Ulrik Haagerup, Danish journalist, founder of the Constructive Institute and one of Europe’s most prominent advocates of constructive journalism; Emil Tedeschi, President of the Management Board of Atlantic Grupa and one of the region’s most influential business leaders; and Miran Pavić, founder and CEO of Telegram Media Group and one of the pioneers of digital publishing in Croatia.
Tech.Weekend Powered by Telemach: From Artificial Intelligence to Physical AI
One of the biggest novelties of this year’s edition is the first Tech.Weekend powered by Telemach, an evolution of last year’s AI.Weekend. The new festival expands its focus to a broader technological ecosystem, bringing together leading experts, entrepreneurs and decision-makers shaping the development of technology in the region.
One of the most striking moments of the programme presentation was the humanoid robot developed by Croatian technology company Abysalto, the official Physical AI partner of Tech.Weekend powered by Telemach, which develops advanced AI and Physical AI solutions.
This year, Rovinj will also welcome Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Rimac Group and one of Europe’s most recognisable technology entrepreneurs. In an exclusive one-on-one conversation, he will speak about the development of Croatia’s technology scene, global competitiveness, innovation and the future of one of the country’s most successful technology stories.
As Daniel Ackermann points out, artificial intelligence is no longer a topic of the future, but a transformation that is already having a profound impact on business today. For this reason, Tech.Weekend will address questions of adaptation to new technologies, robotics, automation and the opportunities brought by the AI revolution.
Investment.Weekend: Capital, Investments and New Opportunities
This year’s Investment.Weekend brings one of the key novelties of the entire programme: a new strategic partnership with InterCapital, one of the leading investment companies in the region.
Among the festival’s prominent participants are Marko Bogdan, Head of Sales for Genius by InterCapital and one of Croatia’s best-known financial educators, as well as Igor Čanadi, software engineer and member of OpenAI’s technical team, who is among the most relevant international names in this year’s programme.
According to Matko Maravić, the festival’s programme director and Executive Director and Partner at InterCapital, this year’s Investment.Weekend will bring investment topics closer to a wider audience, from the basics of investing and capital markets to real estate and artificial intelligence, with a special emphasis on concrete opportunities and tools for making better investment decisions.
Finance.Weekend: Leadership, Transformation and the Future of Finance
The third edition of Finance.Weekend will once again bring together CFOs, controllers, strategic planners and business leaders to discuss the most important challenges in contemporary corporate finance.
Among the speakers in this year’s Finance.Weekend programme are Stuart Mauchline, Senior Vice President of Finance at Virgin Music Group; Milena Radosavljević-Đorić, Country Finance Director at Al Dahra; and Lidija Bajić, Director of Finance and Operations at Novo Nordisk.
As Igor Kranjčec, VP of Marketing at Farseer and the festival’s programme director, points out, artificial intelligence will be one of the important topics of the programme. However, Finance.Weekend will not focus solely on technology, but also on broader questions of leadership in finance, the transformation of finance functions, and the challenges financial professionals face in their everyday work.
Health.Weekend: Health as a Topic of the Future
One of the biggest novelties of this year’s Weekend is the premiere edition of Health.Weekend. Among its featured speakers is Dr Jack Kreindler, London-based physician, founder and CEO of WellFounded Health, and one of Europe’s leading experts in healthtech, human performance and healthy longevity. He will deliver a keynote lecture dedicated to longevity. The programme will also be enriched by Goran Špaleta, Master of Kinesiology and director of the Treneri za vas training institution, as well as Ivana Andačić, CEO of Gyms4You.
According to Krešimir Pihler, the festival’s programme director, Health.Weekend approaches health from a broader perspective, connecting topics related to medicine and the healthcare system with technology, artificial intelligence, investment, finance and innovation, and opening conversations that are rarely brought together in one place.
Education.Weekend Powered by Končar: How to Educate the Generations of the Future
For the first time, Education.Weekend will be presented to the public: a festival dedicated to the future of education and the development of competencies needed for a rapidly changing world.
It was presented by Vlatka Kamenić Jagodić, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at KONČAR Group, who emphasised that education today is no longer solely a matter of the education system, but also of economic competitiveness, technological development, innovation and the quality of the labour market. She also noted that the programme of the inaugural edition of this festival format will address the alignment of the education system with labour market needs, the impact of artificial intelligence on the way we learn, work and develop careers, and its broader impact on the development of society as a whole.
Among the programme participants will be Gregor Čavlović, astrophysicist and science communicator, winner of the prestigious international Webby Award, whose work has attracted the attention of the global digital community in recent years.
HR.Weekend: People at the Centre of Change
The fourth edition of HR.Weekend will bring discussions on pay transparency, employee development, organisational culture, the relationship between HR and communications, and the application of behavioural science in understanding human behaviour and decision-making.
Taking the HR.Weekend stage will be Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, one of the world’s leading experts on leadership, talent development and the relationship between people and artificial intelligence; Professor Meri Tadinac, PhD, Head of the Department of Biological Psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb; and Mojca Domiter, Management Board Member and Vice President for People and Culture at Atlantic Grupa, one of the region’s most prominent HR leaders.
“HR.Weekend has long outgrown the framework of a classic professional event and has become a meeting place for the HR community from across the region. We are especially pleased that this year, for the first time, we are presenting the Adriatic HR Awards, for which as many as 58 projects have already been submitted,” said Iva Majstorović, CEO of Enstring.
Energy.Weekend poweredUP by E.ON Hrvatska
Following last year’s successful edition, Energy.Weekend poweredUP by E.ON Hrvatska is also returning, opening conversations on the energy transition, electrification, sustainability and the increasingly important role of energy in business decision-making.
“Energy today is no longer merely an operational or technical issue, but an important part of business strategy. Companies increasingly recognise that the way they manage energy has a direct impact on their competitiveness, resilience and ability to manage risk. That is why we want to show companies how, through the energy transition, electrification and new technologies, they can create long-term value and new opportunities for development,” said Vladimir Sabo, programme director of Energy.Weekend and Director of E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions for Croatia and Slovenia.
A special source of inspiration for this year’s programme is the celebration of the 170th anniversary of Nikola Tesla’s birth, whose ideas continue to inspire reflections on the future of energy. In that spirit, Energy.Weekend will use concrete examples, experiences and partnerships to show how the challenges of the energy transition can be transformed into development opportunities for companies and society as a whole.
Follow all programme updates and new speaker announcements on the official website and via Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and TikTok, because the biggest announcements are yet to come. If you want to be where the ideas, partnerships and projects shaping the future are created, see you in Rovinj from 24 to 27 September.
