Difference between revisions of "Mardi Gras at Cerknica"

Revision as of 13:55, 12 September 2016

Mardi Gras at Cerknica is one of the most popular Mardi Gras (or pust, as it is called in Slovenia) carnivals in Slovenia. It consists of a week-long series of events that commemorate the upcoming spring and feature various festivities and re-enactments of traditional rituals such as the burning and burial of the Pust figure. The carnival's main attraction is the procession that features numerous masked participants and giant Papier-mâché figures such as witches and monsters.

The timing of the festival depends on the date of each year's Easter. Starting on Thursday, it ends a week later on Ash Wednesday – a day that marks the start of the 40 fasting days preceding Easter.

Background

The Mardi Gras celebrations have a long history in Slovenia (as well as in most of Europe), with the particular manifestations diverging from region to region. Many of them – such as Kurentovanje in Ptuj and the Cerkljanska Laufarija in Cerkno – have very unique and ancient traditions of costumes and customs.

The Cerknica carnival as we know it today started to develop in the years after WWII, when the local rites of driving away winter were gradually joined by masquerades for children and a tradition of satirically tinged costumes that allude to politics and current events. The official birth of this particular festival is considered to be 1975, the year the Cerknica Mardi Gras Society (Pustno društvo Cerknica) was established. This society takes care for the organisation and is of prime importance especially due to the fact that they create, develop and store the giant figures used in the procession.

The carnival

The festivities start on Thursday, when the traditional rite of 'sowing the hag’ takes place. This is also the day when the town is supposedly given over to Butalci, comical and outrageously stupid figures from a series of famous satirical novels by Fran Milčinski (1867–1932) about a made-up town Butale. Its residents play a strong part in the upcoming days of the festival.

With the main events being the Saturday and Sunday processions (attracting thousand of visitors from around Slovenia), the whole thing finishes on Wednesday, when Pust (an anthropomorphic representation of winter) is ritually burned and thrown into the river.

Carnival procession

The procession features numerous groups of masked people and giant paper-mash sculptures (of which many were created by the painter and sculptor Milan Rot). These include the witch Uršula (the mascot of the festival which according to folk lore resides in the cave at Slivnica, a hill overlooking Cerknica), the devil and his herd of dormouse, a dragon, a sea-monster, a giant fish, and so on. Many of them allude to well known figures from the Slovene literary tradition.

Youtube

External links

Mardi Gras at Cerknica webpage (in Slovene)

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+| status       = TOPROOFREAD NIFERTIK!
 | maintainer   = Anže Zorman
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 {{Contact
-| name                = Liza Vipotnik
+| name                = Aljaž Červek,
 | role                = Public Relations
-| telephone           = 386 (0) 30 291 366
+| telephone           = 386 (0) 40 135 049
-| email               = liza.vipotnik@gmail.com
+| email               = cervek.aljaz@gmail.com
 }}
+|Accounts             =
+https://www.facebook.com/pustvcerknici
 }}
+{{Teaser|
+[[Mardi Gras at Cerknica]] is one of the most popular Mardi Gras (or ''pust'', as it is called in Slovenia) carnivals in Slovenia. It consists of a week-long series of events that commemorate the upcoming spring and feature various festivities and re-enactments of traditional rituals such as the burning and burial of the ''Pust'' figure. The carnival's main attraction is the procession that features numerous masked participants and giant Papier-mâché figures such as witches and monsters.
+The timing of the festival depends on the date of each year's Easter. Starting on Thursday, it ends a week later on ''Ash Wednesday'' &ndash; a day that marks the start of the 40 fasting days preceding Easter.
+}}
+==Background==
+The Mardi Gras celebrations have a long history in Slovenia (as well as in most of Europe), with the particular manifestations diverging from region to region. Many of them &ndash; such as [[Kurentovanje]] in Ptuj and the [[Cerkno Museum|Cerkljanska Laufarija]] in Cerkno &ndash; have very unique and ancient traditions of costumes and customs.
+The Cerknica carnival as we know it today started to develop in the years after WWII, when the local rites of driving away winter were gradually joined by masquerades for children and a tradition of satirically tinged costumes that allude to politics and current events. The official birth of this particular festival is considered to be [[established::1975]], the year the Cerknica Mardi Gras Society (''Pustno društvo Cerknica'') was established. This society takes care for the organisation and is of prime importance especially due to the fact that they create, develop and store the giant figures used in the procession.
+==The carnival==
+The festivities start on Thursday, when the traditional rite of 'sowing the hag’ takes place. This is also the day when the town is supposedly given over to ''Butalci'', comical and outrageously stupid figures from a series of famous satirical novels by [[Fran Milčinski]] (1867&ndash;1932) about a made-up town Butale. Its residents play a strong part in the upcoming days of the festival.
+With the main events being the Saturday and Sunday processions (attracting thousand of visitors from around Slovenia), the whole thing finishes on Wednesday, when Pust (an anthropomorphic representation of winter) is ritually burned and thrown into the river.
+===Carnival procession===
+The procession features numerous groups of masked people and giant paper-mash sculptures (of which many were created by the painter and sculptor [[Milan Rot]]). These include the witch Uršula (the mascot of the festival which according to folk lore resides in the cave at Slivnica, a hill overlooking Cerknica), the devil and his herd of dormouse, a dragon, a sea-monster, a giant fish, and so on. Many of them allude to well known figures from the Slovene literary tradition.
+{{Youtube|T99-p6r_5Ic}}
-{{Teaser|
+==See also==
-This very famous carnival features traditional rituals such as 'sowing the baba’, a children’s masquerade, the ‘pust’ celebration and the burial of the ‘pust’. The carnival has been organised since [[established::1975]] when the Pustno društvo Cerknica (Cerknica Mardi Gras Society) was established.
+* [[Kurentovanje]]
-}}
+* [[Cerkno Museum]]
 == External links ==
-*[http://www.cerknica.net/pust Mardi Gras at Cerknica website]  (in Slovenian)
+*[http://pust.si/ Mardi Gras at Cerknica webpage]  (in Slovene)
 [[Category:Festivals]]

Difference between revisions of "Mardi Gras at Cerknica"

Revision as of 13:55, 12 September 2016

Contents

Background

The carnival

Carnival procession

See also

External links

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