The Ljubljana carnival comprises a large carnival procession through the city streets and an entertainment programme at Kongresni TRG.
The procession, headed by the green Ljubljana Dragon , which will be attended by many Ljubljana kindergarten and primary school groups, and will be joined by ethnological groups, drummers and a brass Orchestra , will begin at 11.00 in Novi TRG, continue across the shoemaker Bridge past the town hall on Mestni TRG, Three Bridges and Presern Square, and finally reach Kongresni TRG.
There , visitors will be greeted by a musical point , followed by performances of children's carnival masks, which this year also prepared shorter singing and dancing points in a larger number. Group masks represent fairy-tale characters, and in their manufacture they followed the principles of reuse . Winter will also help us to banish ethnological groups from Slovenia and neighboring Croatia, as well as a brass orchestra. The thirsty and hungry will be able to refresh themselves with a sweet treat and drink, while the spacious dance floor of the Congress Square awaits the hot-tempered masquerade.
Carnival tradition in Slovenia
The tradition of celebrating Carnival with masks and carnivals comes from ancient pagan times . In Central Europe, after 1300, in connection with Christian customs, entertainment was transferred to the time before the forty-day fast.
Slovenian carnival masks and schemes are very picturesque, and carnival customs are in many ways unique and reflect the former local peculiarities of the village environment. The most famous of the carnival schemes in Slovenia are the Ptuj Kurents, cerkno laufarji, skoromati, etc. In the vicinity of Ljubljana, the most famous are cats and roosters from Dobrepolje.
Ljubljanski karneval obsega veliko pustno povorko po mestnih ulicah in zabavni program na Kongresnem trgu.
Sprevod, na čelu katerega je zeleni ljubljanski zmaj in ki se ga bo udeležilo mnogo ljubljanskih vrtčevskih in osnovnošolskih skupin , pridružile pa se jim bodo še etnološke skupine, bobnarji in pihalni orkester, se bo pričel ob 11.00 na Novem trgu , nadaljeval čez Čevljarski most mimo Mestne hiše na Mestnem trgu, Tromostovja in Prešernovega trga in na koncu prispel do Kongresnega trga.
Tam bo obiskovalce pričakala glasbena točka , sledili pa ji bodo nastopi otroških pustnih mask , ki so letos še v večjem številu pripravile tudi krajše pevske in plesne točke. Skupinske maske predstavljajo pravljične junake, pri njihovi izdelavi pa so sledili načelom ponovne uporabe . Z rajanjem nam bodo zimo pomagale pregnati tudi etnološke skupine iz Slovenije in sosednje Hrvaške ter pihalni orkester. Žejni in lačni se bodo lahko krepčali s sladkim priboljškom in pijačo, razposajene maškare pa čaka prostorno plesišče Kongresnega trga.
Pustna tradicija na Slovenskem
Tradicija praznovanja pusta z maskami in karnevali izhaja iz starodavnih poganskih časov . V Srednji Evropi so se po letu 1300 v povezavi s krščanskimi običaji zabave prenesle na čas pred štiridesetdnevnim postom.
Slovenske pustne maske in šeme so zelo slikovite, pustni običaji pa so v marsičem edinstveni in odražajo nekdanje lokalne posebnosti vaških okolij. Najbolj znane med pustnimi šemami v Sloveniji so ptujski kurenti, cerkljanski laufarji, škoromati idr. V okolici Ljubljane so najbolj znane mačkare in petelini iz Dobrepolja.
