Leçon en classe · Festival · 🇸🇮 Slovenia

Kurentovanje carnival

Costumed 'Kurents' chase winter away with bells and sheepskin

A Kurent in sheepskin costume with horns and cowbells, dancing in the street

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

Qu'est-ce que c'est ?

Kurentovanje is a winter-into-spring carnival in the town of Ptuj. People dress up as 'Kurents' in long sheepskin coats with feathers, masks with horns, and huge cowbells around their waists. They dance and ring the bells to scare winter away.

En savoir plus

The carnival takes place in February. Hundreds of Kurents march through the streets in a noisy, colourful procession.

The sheepskin costume weighs about 25 kilograms - heavier than most school bags - and the bells are loud enough to make windows shake.

Kurentovanje is on the UNESCO list of cultural traditions to protect, alongside things like Spanish flamenco and Japanese kabuki.

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Pistes de discussion

  1. 01If you had to make a costume to scare winter away, what would it look like?
  2. 02Why do you think people make so much noise to welcome spring?
  3. 03What festival in your country does something similar - chasing one season away?
À essayer

Activité en classe

Cut paper bells and paste them around a paper-plate mask. Give your mask a name and a job (e.g. 'rain chaser', 'wake-up bringer').