LATEST INFO
August 22nd 2022
Dear Pula players, ladies and gentlemen
The list of players registered so far is here:
https://bridge.hr/tournaments/register/pula/reglist
Please make sure that you have registered if you intend to play in Pula. Only confirmed players can register for tournaments. Next "confirmation" will take place in about ten days.
Registrations
If you want to register for the festival you can do it here:
https://bridge.hr/tournaments/register/pula
You can register right now, but there is no need to rush. For each event, the registration deadline is 24 hours before the start of that contest. After that time, registrations will be possible only if it is convenient for organization. Starting positions will only be displayed online at pulabridgefestival.com -- no later than one hour before the start of the event. If you are looking for a partner or teammates, you can post your request online at the specific event, or contact the organizers (tihana@pilar.hr).
IMPORTANT: If you register for a tournament and later decide not to play – it is crucial to delete your names from the list of registered pairs/teams. If you decide not to play less than 24 hours before the start of the tournament please inform us immediately (pulabridge@gmail.com).
Venue
The venue is the Congress Center of Park Plaza Histria (same as in previous years). If we reach over 150 pairs or 70 teams, we have additional playing space in the hotel Casino, which is only one minute walk from the Congress Center.
Entries/Prizes
The entries are 25 euro/play/day for all main events. (e.g. BAM teams 100 euro/team, Mixed pairs 25 euro/player, and Open teams 200 euro/team - since it is a 2-3 day event). Juniors (born 1996 or later) get a discount in all pairs tournaments, and in team tournaments as long as there is no more than one adult on the team. Around 60% of the collected entries goes to the prizes for the best 10%-15% overall in a given event, and to the best in “special categories” (e.g. Mixed). Right after the entries are collected, prize amounts will be displayed at pulabridgefestival.com. Prizes should be collected the next day at the venue, right after the end of that day’s event – please bring an ID card. Cups will be awarded at the Victory Ceremony on September 17th.
Rules
We are playing this festival by The Laws of Duplicate Bridge 2017, as long as they do not interfere with common decency and gentlemanship. Chief TD is Mr. Adam Magyar. Convention cards are not obligatory, but it is highly recommended for your protection. Slow play cannot be tolerated since we have to follow a strict timetable – the official tempo allows 15 minutes per two boards at pairs, 65 minutes per 8 boards at teams, 50 minutes per 6 boards in BAM). Mobile phones MUST be switched off during the course of play in all events, otherwise automatic penalties apply. You are responsible for all results entered in the Bridgemate at your table. You should check all your results (online), and report any error, NO LATER THAN one hour after the end of every match (teams) or session (pairs). Later (but NOT more than 12 hours) complaints will be considered only if it was the organizers’ fault.
Although the Pula Bridge Festival is very proud of our international TD team, we also still believe in Appeals Committees composed of players. If you think that a ruling was not right, you are entitled to appeal (you should inform the TD right after the match). Appeal tax is 50 euro and it will be returned unless the Appeal is judged by the AC to be “without merit”.
Dress code
PLEASE do not dress as you go to the beach. Any casual or smart casual will do -- for example T-shirts are perfectly fine. Please don’t be barefoot or bare-belly. We are happy that you love your body, and that you are fully relaxed in Pula, but these are firm rules set by the hotel, and we must follow them.
Mission
Please keep in mind that although many competitive, even world-class players gather in Pula, this is primarily a festival, a celebration, and not a battlefield. We nurture Pula as a venue for international, friendly games that every participant will enjoy. Please do not ruin our efforts by placing your killer instinct above a pleasant atmosphere -- we are sure you can win without making others miserable. Here, we are in a business of making memories -- we have been doing so for the last 60 years, and as always, I am expecting and gratefully counting on your full support.
July 19th 2022
Dear Pula players,
Thank you all who already made bookings and registered for the festival!
Accommodation
Venue is hotel Park Plaza Histria.
Accommodation in double room at the venue is from 67 euro/day/person with breakfast included.
If you did not book your accommodation yet, please do it ASAP.
Please book via arenahotels.com webpage and use promo code BRIDGE to get the best possible price at any moment.
If you need basic budget accommodation I still have some one bedroom apartments in Horizont for 40 euro/night /apartment (big enough for 2-4 people, so from 10-20 euro/person/day). E mail me directly to tihana@pilar.hr.
For other types of accommodation please go to arenahotels.com
- Enter promo code BRIDGE (above SEARCH button)
- Choose type of accommodation and dates of arrival and departure.
- Click SEARCH and you will get list of options.
This prices include additional discount (because of code BRIDGE) to the lowest arenahotels prices (they guarantee that those are the best on the market).
Registrations
If you did not register so far, please do it. Here is the link:
REGISTRATION
If there is a problem with registration, don't panic :), please just try with another browser. If it still doesn’t work, e-mail me to tihana@pilar.hr.
Registration for specific tournaments will open in late August, so please check this page occasionally.
Registration for every tournament will close 24 hours before the start. After that, late registration will be possible only if convenient.
Covid 19 regulations
Regarding Covid-19 pandemic we will follow whatever the rules in Croatia will be at the time of the festival. At the moment there are no restrictions, and no need for certificates at any event. Masks are obligatory only in medical facilities.
April 16th 2022:
Bookings for the festival are open now at www.arenahotels.com
You get 10% discount when you enter promo code BRIDGE. Arenahotels guarantee that their price is the best on the market, and bridge price is 10% lower.
Please let me know when you book and don't hesitate to contact Tihana (tihana@pilar.hr) if you have any additional questions.Please keep in mind that prices will change, so it might be wise to book ASAP. As you can see, you can always cancel the booking, and in case of unlikely event that prices go down, you can cancel the current booking and make a new one (you will again get 10% discount).
9 September 2021:
Dear players,
Please read carefully information on the link below.
Pula Bridge Festival Welcome Information
14 August 2021:
Dear all,
Registration for the 59th International Pula bridge festival is now open. Every player who intends to play at least one tournament should register here. Please register as soon as possible since the number of participants is limited. On August 21st we will check and confirm registrations and later registration may not be possible. Registrations for specific events (e.g. IMP pairs) will be open on August 22nd. Please don’t hesitate to ask for any additional information you may need: tihana@pilar.hr.
Please register on link bellow:
6 July 2021:
I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!I can see that some of you are already playing bridge at real, physical places! Well done Biarritz, Albena, Lądek Zdrój and Jurmala and all the others who dared to go live! I am so excited to see photos of people holding cards in their hands again, and can’t wait to see you all!As you know Pula festival will start at September 10th (welcome).
Main part of the tournament is scheduled from 11th-18th September, in hotel Histria. For various reasons, but mostly because of the hotel requests, we moved starting times of the tournaments to early afternoon, so that we don’t play after dinner. The format of the tournaments and daily schedule will, hopefully, remain as it was before the pandemic. Please contact me for bookings, I have some really nice discounts at many places nearby (tihana@pilar.hr).
At the moment in Croatia sport competitions are allowed as well as other events. Of course, I can not be sure what will happen by September. As any vigorous crises headquarters, ours is very concerned about new sorts of virus, but so far situation is rather relaxed here… well, we are touristic country after all. Therefore, I am rather optimistic, and since we held festival even in 2020, I trust that we will make it this year too. Hopefully, in much bigger numbers (not too difficult considering 2020). I believe that Covid passports will be functional by then, and probably you will need one to enter the playing area. It is really difficult to plan bridge festival when you can not approximate the number of participants… it influences everything: equipment, officials, etc. I hope there will be no limitations regarding number of participants, but I would still prefer to avoid huge crowds. Therefore the registration for the festival will be open in mid August. Every player who intends to play will have to register as a festival participant. Those who register earlier will have an advantage in case we will have to limit the number of participants at (some) tournaments. You know I will give my best to make it as fair as possible. Still I need your full cooperation, and you will have to register well in advance for every tournament to assure your participation (and to help us with preparing the event).
Finally, you all know that there were many cheating affairs during the last two years. We are rather strict regarding this issue, so during registration for the festival you will also have to confirm that you were not found guilty in any of those. If it turns out the opposite, your invitation for the festival will be cancelled. I know it is harsh but I need to protect the tournament and make sure my players feel comfortable. Of course, I am here for any details you may need.
See you soon 