Kurentovanje in Ptuj

The Kurentovanje is the most important carnival event in Slovenia of enormous public significance. The 47-year-old tradition is famous for organised performances the aim of which is to preserve and develop the extraordinary movable cultural legacy and ethnographical tradition from the Ptuj region. The Kurentovanje is the time that brings magic happiness and joy together with a scent of mysticism. It is one of the most important traditional events in Slovenia and in central Europe.

It originates in a hundred-year-old tradition of carnival celebrations on the Drava and Ptuj fields. The carnival time represents a perfect occasion for customs and habits to burst out and give vent to joy and happiness hidden in our soul during the rest of the year.

In Slovenia, there are numbers of various colourful carnival customs and habits, and more than hundred different masks. Nowhere else in the country are to be found more attractive or more well-known masks than in the Ptuj carnival. Kurent or Korant is known not only in the entire country but also in the world.

The traditional carnival starts on Saturday, more than a week before Shrove Tuesday, with the gathering of typical Slovene carnival masks and figures.

Different performances take place every day; in afternoons town streets and squares are enlivened by performances of various artists, street-theatre groups, musicians and others; in evenings, the masked ball continues in the carnival tent where at sounds of popular national and foreign music groups, good food and drinks abound.

The event culminates on Sunday with the traditional international parade, and ends on Tuesday with the burial of the Carnival. The Kurentovanje in Ptuj is not just a simple event, but an experience not to be missed.

Kurent or Korant - the main carnival figure

Kurent or Korant is the most famous traditional carnival figure of the entire region. The carnival in Ptuj is named after it. At the same time, it is the most popular and frequent traditional carnival figure in the Ptuj and Drava fields, and in Haloze hills.

Kurent or Korant, as it is known today, gets its origin in popular tradition. Traditionally, the Kurent's outfit used to be reserved only to unmarried men, but nowadays Kurent-Korant can be as well married men as children and women.

There are two types of Kurent-Korant: the so-called "feathery" and the "horned" one. Kurent-Korant wears sheep skin coat, around its waist hangs a chain with huge bells, heavy boots and gaiters protect feet, while the head is covered by a cap. A wooden club is normally carried in the left hand.

Kurent-Korant is believed to be endowed with unearthly powers, for with its demoniac figure, with jumping and ringing bells it performs a rite which is supposed to chase the winter away to bring spring to the country.

Kurent-Korant is a mascot, a symbol and the ambassador of Ptuj, the Ptuj region and of Slovenia.

Some figures

• Kurentovanje is visited by more than 100,000 people every year,
• Saturday and Sunday parades are watched by 60-70,000 people
• in eleven days, there are some 15-20,000 people expected to party in the carnival tent
• afternoon programmes in the town are followed by more than 1,000 people every day
• Kurentovanje is becoming more and more recognizable in Slovenia and abroad, and more than 100,000 spectators follow daily information by means of mass media
• participants in parades are numerous: the Saturday parade boasts more than 1,000 participants, and the Sunday parade over 2,000 and around 600 Kurents
• Kurentovanje is the most prominent cultural and ethnographical event in Slovenia