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Crazy times are coming, masquerade is here!

Carnival, known around the globe, is also widely celebrated in Slovenia and goes by the name “Pust”.

In this post we are presenting to you the Cerkno Carnival traditions, called Cerkljanski Laufarji (Cerkno runners).

Like elsewhere, preparation with rituals like special gatherings, caroling, sewing the costumes, etc. start around New Year and continue until Ash Wednesday. The loudest and biggest events are on the weekend and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. For 2015, these days are in February: Saturday 14th, Sunday 15th and Tuesday 17th.

Cerkno characters are the same every year. There are 25 masks, each with its own story and its own role among the Carnival family. Apart from one special character, they all have hand crafted wooden masks from lime wood

and can’t talk with the outer world, except for the Father of the family who is the only one to communicate with outsiders. The story is the same every year: Pust (Slovene name for Carnival) has been convicted and found guilty for all the “bad” that happened in the previous year. He has to be killed. No mercy.

In case you are not around on the Pust celebration dates, you are lucky to not completely miss out – a few years ago a permanent exhibition on local traditional masks was opened.

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