Štip held a memorial gathering in honor of the five local residents who died in the fire at the Pulse nightclub in Kočani, marking one year since the tragedy with a public act of remembrance at the city’s central square. The evening program began with the laying of a foundation stone for a memorial near the small fountain by Freedom City Square and continued with candle-lighting and a symbolic “starry sky,” as those present turned on their mobile phone lights.
The commemoration was dedicated to Filip Ivanovski, Damjan Tanevski, Aleksandar Efremov, Filip Stevanovski, and Aleksandar Kolarov, whose names are to be engraved on the future memorial. The gathering brought together citizens, relatives, and friends and was presented as both a local act of mourning and a visible expression of lasting remembrance.
Design and symbolism of the future memorial
The planned memorial is to be placed at the small fountain on Freedom City Square in Štip and is conceived as a permanent marker of the city’s loss. The design foresees five doves and one angel, symbols described in the coverage as representing presence, infinity and light.
Additional details say the monument is planned to be six meters long and three meters wide. The concept centers on the five victims from Štip, with their names engraved as a lasting testimony to the lives lost and the impact they left on their families and the city.
Timeline and message from the city
A later report states that the memorial should be completed in about four months. The same report presents the project not only as a construction effort but also as the creation of a dedicated space for remembrance, respect, and quiet reflection.
Municipal messaging cited in the earlier coverage emphasized that Štip stands together with Kočani in grief and in hope. The commemoration was framed as an attempt to transform pain into something visible and enduring, while the memorial itself is intended to preserve the memory of the five victims in a permanent public form.
Part of a wider anniversary of the Pulse fire
The memorial evening in Štip coincided with the first anniversary of the Pulse fire in Kočani, in which 63 people died. One account notes that the anniversary in Kočani was marked with a three-day program of religious, commemorative, and cultural events, underscoring that the tragedy had grown beyond a local event into a broader collective wound felt across multiple cities.
In that context, the Štip gathering was portrayed as more than a municipal commemoration. By laying the foundation stone, lighting candles, and ending the evening under a symbolic field of lights, the city turned remembrance into a public, physical, and lasting gesture centered on the five victims it lost in the disaster.
