Over the next two months, a more than colorful event will have taken over the streets of Rijeka. A special time in the city otherwise known as “Carnival”, Rijeka prepares to get their masks ready from January 17th until Ash Wednesday, which this year falls on March 1st, reports HRTurizam on January 14, 2017.
This year marks the 34th Annual Rijeka Carnival, and with that comes a time where the city of Rijeka is transformed into one of the brightest celebrations in the world. From the opening event’s raising of the “Pust” to the Queen Pageant and the Handover of the City Key, Rijeka’s city carnival takes it’s patrons through plenty of masked fun, song and dance, sports, cuisine, and charity events … ending with two big carnival parades. Dates worth remembering are January 20th when a new royal spokeswoman for Carnival is elected, the children’s parade on February 18, and the grand finale “International Carnival Parade” which will be held on February 26.
Dubbed as Rijeka’s “fifth season”, here is what we can expect for this year’s Carnival celebration. “Yet another Rijeka Carnival, the 34th in a row, is upon us – and this year, to the delight of everyone, will last a little longer than last year. There is a rich and interesting program and I believe that among the many carnival events everybody can find something to their liking. In this year’s International Rijeka Carnival parade we can expect some 10,000 participants in hundreds of carnival groups. Therefore, I urge everyone to join the carnival events and be part of one of Europe’s and the world’s largest Carnivals,” said the Mayor of Rijeka Vojko Obersnel, who added that the Rijeka Carnival is part of the European Capital of Culture, within which carnival programs are prepared.
“The Handover of the City Keys and the Rijeka Carnival Queen Pageant is Friday, January 20 in the Hall of Youth, and tickets for the selection of the Queen are now on sale at the Tourist Information Centre at Korzo 14 for a price of 25 kn. Tickets will be available in front of the Youth Sports Hall two hours before the start of the program. What makes the Rijeka Carnival the most famous are the two big carnival parades on Korzo, and this year the children’s parade is scheduled for February 18 and International Carnival Parade is scheduled for February 26,” said director of Rijeka Tourist Board Petar Škarpa, adding that applications for both parades are still open through today via the site www.rijecki-karneval.hr
Rijeka Carnival is on the list of the 500 most important events in Europe – ‘Top 500 European Events’. The Sunday Times ranked Rijeka’s Carnival among the 24 most exotic events in the world in 2007, and in 2009 the event found itself in the book “501 must be there events”. Otherwise, the Children’s Carnival procession is attended by over 5,000 participants and over 70 carnival groups, while the International Carnival parade includes 10,000 participants, 11 carnival groups, and over 70 floats.
“Krepat, ma ne molat!” (in other words, “die but don’t give up”) is the slogan that best sums up everything the Rijeka Carnival represents. A wonderful event with a longstanding tradition that encourages everyone to be who they want, Carnival is best enjoyed in the flesh and in the thick of it all.
You can find the entire program for the Rijeka Carnival 2017, with all the details of the carnival and the list of carnival groups, on the official website www.rijecki-karneval.hr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=cJVUVykvexc
*All images by Rijeka Carnival
