Each year since 1947, on the 8 February national cultural holiday which commemorates the anniversary of the death of Slovene Romantic poet and liberal mind France Prešeren, the Prešeren Award (the so-called Grand Prešeren Award) is bestowed on one or two eminent Slovene artists. On the same day the Prešeren Foundation Awards are awarded to up to six artists. These are the highest national awards in the field of arts, selected and granted by the Prešeren Foundation.
Selection process
Membership of the Awards Board comprises representatives of various artistic disciplines who are nominated by the government and elected in Parliament. The Board announces the Grand Prešeren Award and the Prešeren Foundation Award winners winner(s) are announced in January.