Kurentovanje: the largest Shrovetide carnival in Slovenia
Kurentovanje: The holiday of spring and tradition
During the Shrovetide, the oldest Slovenian town, Ptuj, is transformed into a great carnival venue where the famous Kurenti rule. The tradition of Kurentovanje goes back more than 60 years and is one of the largest Shrovetide carnivals in Slovenia. The figure of Kurenti and their door-to-door rounds during Shrovetide have been entered on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Other traditional Shrovetide figures and masks join Kurenti in the parade and create a cheerful atmosphere in the streets and squares of Ptuj. There are plenty of reasons for you to visit the carnival and enjoy the frolicking Shrovetide celebrations. But, before you visit Ptuj, we’ll take you behind the scenes of the carnival considered one of the most picturesque in the world.
Who are Kurenti?
They may be scary at first sight but they have a good heart. This briefly describes Kurenti, the most famous and popular Slovenian traditional Shrovetide characters, which are also the most renowned symbol of Ptuj. Their origins have roots in mythology and their main task is to chase away evil forces and invite better times into the country in the form of prosperity, a warm spring or good harvest.
The knowledge of historical facts, tradition and relationship towards the preservation of cultural heritage are the foundations of true Koranti or Kurenti. To be a Korant/Kurent means to call in the good and ward off the bad, which can only be done with kind-heartedness and pure energy.
Aleš Ivančič, Chairman of the Association of Kurent Societies on Kurenti characteristics
The door-to-door rounds of Kurenti, which are inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, start on Candlemas, 2 February, and end on Ash Wednesday. Once, they visited houses in the nearby villages in the Ptuj and Drava fields, the Haloze Hills and the Slovenske Gorice Hills, but now they end their rounds in Ptuj at the traditional Kurentovanje.
Be up to date about what’s happening in Slovenian tourism. By subscribing to our newsletter you will receive the latest trade news in the field of tourism and other current information on a monthly basis.
The form contains errors
Please verify the marked fields and try again.
Share with friends
Scroll down until you see the heart icon on the left.
Click on the icon and the content will be added to favourites.
When you revisit the page (in the same browser), the content will still be saved in your favourites.
The General Terms and Conditions determine the conditions and manner of using the Slovenian Tourist Board’s Media Library services. In the Media Library, users have at their disposal high-resolution photos and audio-visual recordings of the products and services offered by Slovenian tourism, which are to be used solely for non-commercial purposes as defined below.
General rules of application
Registration is required to use the Media Library’s services. Registration is available to any legal entity in the Republic of Slovenia and abroad, regardless of their legal form, whose activities involve marketing, promoting and presenting Slovenia as a tourist destination.
Photos and audio-visual recordings (hereafter: materials) may be used free of charge for all non-commercial publications that constitute promotion of Slovenia as a tourist destination, abroad or in the Republic of Slovenia, in accordance with these General Terms and Conditions.
The right to use the materials is not limited in terms of time or place (the use is permitted in Slovenia and other countries) unless a restriction relating to location and duration of use is specifically provided for an individual item of material.
The Slovenian Tourist Board reserves the right to revoke a user’s right to use certain materials at any time.
The rights acquired based on these General Terms and Conditions may not be transferred to third parties.
Citing the source and authorship
Photos and audio-visual recordings may only be used with consistent citation of author/co-authors and source: www.slovenia.info.
Rights of use
A registered user of the Media Library shall obtain the following non-exclusive economic rights to use the downloaded photos and audio-visual recordings:
the right of reproduction and distribution,
the right of making available to the public,
the right of public presentation,
the right of including photos in other copyright work.
The above rights refer to all forms of non-commercial and free-of-charge online posts, print media, audio-visual media services and other communication channels, regardless of the type of media (print, digital), which includes:
Digital catalogues, e-magazines, newsletters (solely for the purposes of free distribution);
Publication in print and other media that report on the Slovenian tourism products and services or promote Slovenia as a tourist destination;
Use on social media as part of organic posts (reporting on an event, press releases (solely unpaid posts);
Printed promotional materials, prospectuses, leaflets, brochures (solely for the purposes of free distribution);
Promotional events in the Republic of Slovenia and abroad (e.g., tourism fairs, exchanges, workshops, presentations, etc.) that are exclusively or predominantly intended to promote Slovenia as a tourist destination.
The above forms of use include solely a free-of-charge form of using materials for the purposes of promoting tourism activities and services in the Republic of Slovenia or presenting Slovenia as a tourist destination.
Prohibited forms of using materials/commercial use of materials
Using materials for commercial purposes, such as reproduction on postcards, T-shirts, books, magnets, embedding audio-visual inserts in one’s own promotional materials, all forms of external advertising (stationary billboards, digital advertising, etc.), use in advertisements unrelated to the promotion of Slovenia as a tourist destination, use on websites that are not intended to present Slovenian tourism products and services and similar activities, is not included in these General Terms and Conditions and is prohibited.
It is strictly prohibited to use materials on media and distribution channels that are marketed or sold to users (books, school textbooks, other commercial publishing, calendars, postcards, fast-moving consumer goods (clothes and other products), advertising of non-tourism products and services, reproduction of materials on vehicles, etc.).
Using audio-visual materials is allowed only in the unchanged form available in the Media Library. Transformations, adaptations, clips, embeddings, and instances of using individual shots in one’s own audio-visual works, even if intended for promotional purposes, is prohibited.
Breaches of General Terms and Conditions
Any breach of economic and/or moral rights of the authors of photographs or audio-visual recordings may constitute a criminal offence and may result in substantive and damage liability of the user.
The entity breaching copyright pertaining to the material shall reimburse the Slovenian Tourist Board for all the damage incurred to it due to the breach of rights.
The Slovenian Tourist Board shall not be liable for any use of photos and video recordings that is contrary to these rules. The user of the material shall be entirely responsible for the content and manner of use.
General provisions
These Media Library General Terms and Conditions shall apply for all instances of using the material unless the Slovenian Tourist Board and user agree on special terms of using the material in advance and in writing for a specific instance of using the material.
These General Terms and Conditions shall be subject to occasional amendments. Upon the user’s publication of the material, the version of the General Terms and Conditions that is current at that particular time shall apply for the use of materials. If the user disagrees with the amendments made to these General Terms and Conditions, they shall immediately cease using the material and remove it from all media and other communication channels.
Alma is a ChatGPT-based virtual travel guide designed to help you find information and inspiration for your next visit to Slovenia. She is full of ideas for great experiences, knows Slovenian destinations and the variety of activities you are particularly interested in, so she can offer you personalised content and inspiring stories available on the official slovenia.info tourism portal.
Our virtual advisor was inspired by the intrepid world traveller Alma M. Karlin; therefore, we named her ALMA.
I give my consent to the Slovenian Tourist Board to use cookies that enable the display of content (e.g.: audio clips, video clips, images) from other online sources (YouTube, Spotify, etc.) and remember my language selection on the www.slovenia.info website. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with my rights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
Email: info@slovenia.info
I give permission for the Slovenian Tourist Board to record and store anonymised data about my activity on the website, which will be used to provide a better user experience for visitors to the portal in the future. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with my rights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana,
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
E-mail: info@slovenia.info
I give permission for the Slovenian Tourist Board to record my activities on the website regarding my visits to individual types of content in order to produce and display better quality content that is of interest to me.
As the Slovenian Tourist Board strives to display high-quality and interesting content on the website, it wishes to measure responses to the displayed notifications and content, track user activity on the website, and create user profiles for targeted advertising, and therefore automatically processes and analyses personal data and assesses user interest in displaying and receiving notifications. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with my rights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
Email: info@slovenia.info
I give permission for the Slovenian Tourist Board to record and store information about my interests, displays, and clicks on advertising content for the purpose of providing specific, topical, high-quality, and targeted advertising content, as well as for the purpose of measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and limiting the repetition of advertisements. These settings apply to advertisements displayed by the Slovenian Tourist Board via advertising on social media platforms (e.g.: Meta, LinkedIn, etc.), international search engines (e.g.: Google), as well as through online applications and activities that directly address the user. Such cookies allow us to track our campaigns online. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with myrights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
Email: info@slovenia.info
Privacy settings