Kurent – Traditional Slovenian Carnival Character

Kurentovanje (Kurentovanye) is Slovenia’s most popular and ethnologically significant carnival event first organised in 1960. This 11-day rite of spring and fertility highlight event is celebrated on Shrove Sunday.

Its main figure, known as Kurent or Korent, has been popularly (but incorrectly) reinterpreted as an extravagant god of unrestrained pleasure and hedonism in early Slavic customs.  In today’s festival, groups of kurents or kurenti wear traditional sheepskin garments while holding wooden clubs with hedgehog skins attached along with a waistband of bells, the noise of which is believed to “chase away winter”.  In this way, the presence of kurenti announces the end of winter and beginning of spring. Being a kurent was at first a privilege offered only to unmarried men but today, married men, children and women are also invited to wear the outfit.

Please see the link below if you are interested in more information on the Kurent Character!

https://slovenia.si/art-and-cultural-heritage/kurent-traditional-slovenian-carnival-character/