The Lent Festival - held every year for two weeks between the end of June and early July - is in many ways Maribor's pride and joy. It attracts tens of thousands of people from near and far and gives them a belting time, with its unbelievable programme of music and art, both classical and contemporary. Everyone goes attends: families with small children, young couples and artistic loners staring at the water with yet another beer-in-hand. But the main achievement of the festival is that most of the activity takes place on the slim strip of terra firma that is the Lent embankment, also the oldest part of the city. How it can cram the throngs gathered without shoving half of them kicking and screaming into the nearby River Drava takes some doing.