The end of the month of June is famous for the attractive festival called “The Legend of Picoki”. It takes place in Đurđevac, where the central theme of courageous defenders of the Đurđevac fortress is staged, showing how they used their cunning tricks and wisdom in order to fight back against the Turkish siege. According to the legend from the 16th century, the Turkish tyrant Ulama-beg intended to cut out the food supply and make Đurđevac and its inhabitants starve, and thus conquer them. After a long siege, all that had been left to the defenders was a rooster – “picok”, which they shot by cannon towards the Turks, following the advice of an old lady. The powerful Ulama-beg thought that the people of Đurđevac abounded in food, so that he gave up the further siege of the town, and since then the people of Đurđevac have proudly accepted their nickname “Picoki”.
Three days long, this is where the authentic national culture is woven from paintings, written words, folk music, folklore and national customs. Except for the staged legend, which has the status of the cultural heritage of Croatia, there is also a very attractive event called “Podravina from year to year” – a convoy of specially decorated carriages where the participants present certain customs and seasonal work in Podravina, along with the cake exhibition called “Mum was baking strudel”.