For most people June 30th is not a very significant day; in Korčula it is!
It’s not one of those traditions that goes back centuries, but since the very early 2000s the people of Korčula have been celebrating on June 30th, with a costume party for the Half New Year’s Eve. Organized from the start by the Bonkulovići Association (Korčulan group of people dedicated to the tradition of carnival, which you might remember from our other articles as being an important tradition in Croatia), this party is taking place outside the usual carnival “season”, which is in early spring, just before the beginning of Lent, and has managed to gain traction with fun-loving people from Korčula and other places in Dalmatia, who get the chance to show their wonderful costumes one more time during the year.
At first, it was another of those events that was meant to be for the locals mostly, but since it has grown in number of people participating and in organisational sense as well, it has managed to establish itself as a part of tourist attractions of the town of Korčula. Each year all the masked participants gather at Plokata (the key central place in Korčula, where so many things happen, the little square that’s not really a square just below the main Old Town entrance), then form a procession around the Old Town, passing by the restaurants and the people of town, waving and taking photos with them, and end up on Plokata again. Right there, on the monument, is where the main party is held, where there’s music, DJ’s bands, food and drink stands, and the party goes on as it would if it were a proper New Year’s Eve. In Australia, because here on Northern hemisphere it’s cold and unpleasant outside still for Full New Year’s, but weather-wise, it’s usually perfect at the end of June.
The party goes on until the late hours, and at midnight there is a spectacular fireworks organized from the tower of the Korčula Cathedral (which does seem like a bit of a fire-hazard, but it seems that they’ve been taking all the necessary precautions there).
So, if you’re into masks, parties and having fun outside with a bunch of people who’re in a good mood, there’s no place better for you to be on the Half New Year’s Eve than Korčula, and this year the party is probably going to get even bigger since it’s a Saturday night, so there are no excuses to miss it!
