D-JAZZ

DEMANDICE - A sleepy town in southern Slovakia, Demandice is about 30 minutes by car from the Hungarian border. But if potential visitors drive too fast, or are even momentarily distracted, the town could easily be missed. Its 1,000 inhabitants have a church, a pub, a bus stop, a grocery store and a mortician - and not much else.

But once a year, Demandice styles itself as a Mecca of Culture and hosts a unique Slovak jazz festival. Staged annually on the last weekend in June, the event is as diminutive as the town, yet it derives charm from the proximity of the musicians to the crowd. The stage is behind the town's pub on a lawn not big enough to house a proper game of croquet; patrons include as many musicians as spectators.