Rijeka Carnival

Carnival brings a spark of joy with them and spread it into every visitor. One cannot deny the fact that almost every person loves carnivals. They are a medium of bringing people closer and giving them a chance to spend some quality time with their loved ones. If you are one of those who never miss a carnival, you must check out the Rijeka Carnival in Croatia. If we talk about the carnival history, it has its root dug back in the year 1982. It is said that the carnival first happened in the year 1982, and with time it grew up to become the biggest carnival in Croatia. The streets of Rijeka are flooded with people; by taking a look at the decorations, one can easily tell there is a carnival going on. If you plan to be a part of this beautiful carnival, you need to know some before visiting.

The carnival is an annual celebration that takes place in the city of Rijeka. Every year thousands of people come together to celebrate the carnival. Most tourists say that if you are planning to visit the city, you must plan it Mid-February.

It is said that the festival is basically a Christian celebration that usually ends on Shrove Tuesday. There is no fixed date for the carnival, but it can be easier for you if you can read a Christian calendar. As per the Christian calendar, the carnival is celebrated four days prior to Ash Wednesday, another holy day for the Christians. If you don’t know what Ash Wednesday is, you can think of it as a day that comes 46 days prior to Easter.

Image source: kanal-ri.hr

The beginning of the festival takes place in the month of January and mostly starts by mid-Jan at the nearest Tuesday. The procedure of raising of carnival flag is done on the same day to mark the beginning of the festival. In the same week, on Friday, the Queen’s pageant is held, and the city keys are handed over to the authorities handling the festivities.

On the weekend, the first part of the celebration, i.e., the Zvoncari, takes place. Zvoncari, which is also known as Bell Ringers, is an event where the men dress up as animals and dance to ring the bells.

The children’s carnival parade marks the beginning of the next week, where thousands of children gather on the street to dance.

However, the main event, i.e., the International Carnival Parade, comes after the children’s parade. On this day, the participants dress up wearing traditional masks and costumes, etc. There are nearly 800 participants who are spectated by more than 100,000 people.

The carnival comes to an end the Sunday before Shrove Tuesday. On this day, the Pust (or Krnje) is burned, and the city keys are also returned to the mayor. For those of you who don’t know, Pust is a symbol that depicts everything that might have gone wrong in the previous year. Burning of this symbol marks the end of the carnival.