Rijeka Carnival

The Rijeka Carnival is held each year before the Lent in Rijeka, Croatia. It is one of the biggest carnivals both in Croatia and in the world. In 2008 it celebrated it's 25th anniversary.

History

The first Rijeka Carnival was held in 1982. It had only three performer groups in its parade and it was neither famous nor popular. The groups were "Lako ćemo", "Pehinarski feštari" and "Halubajski zvončari". All three groups have participated in the carnival each time since the beginning. The largest event happened in 2001 with 144 groups participating. Because of the restrictions that have been made regarding the number of participants in each group, the 2008 carnival had only 99 groups. Nonetheless, 100,000 visitors attended it.

Manifestations

Every year there are numerous manifestations preceding the carnival itself. First the mayor of Rijeka gives the symbolic key of the city to Meštar Toni, who is "the maestro" of the carnival, and he becomes the mayor of the city during the carnival, although this is only figuratively. Same day, there is an election of the carnival queen. As all the cities around Rijeka have their own manifestations during the carnival time, Queen and Meštar Toni are attending most of them.Also, every year Carnival ball is held in Governors palace in Rijeka. It is attended by politicians, people from sport and media life, as well as number of ambassadors and consuls accredited in Republic of Croatia. This ball is of charitable nature.Weekend before the main event there are two other manifestations held. One is Rally Paris - Bakar. It name of course originates form real Paris - Dakar (today Granada Dakar rally). The start point is a part of Rijeka called Paris after the restaurant located there, and the end is in city of Bakar, located about 20 km south east of Rijeka. All of the participants of the rally wear masks, and the cars are mostly modified old cars. As on any event in carnival time it's not about wining, it's all about having great time. The other event is children carnival, held, like the main one, on Rijeka main walkway Korzo. The groups that participate in this event are mostly form kindergartens and elementary schools all around Rijeka and it's suburbs, although there were some visiting groups from other parts of Croatia and neighboring countries.

The main event

The main carnival march is held on the last Sunday before the Ash Wednesday. It usually starts at noon. In the front there are the real mayor of Rijeka, the carnival Queen and Meštar Toni. The route of the march has several stages where the hosts present every group, and the main stage is situated in front of the city hall. The mayor, the queen and Meštar Toni stand in front of this stage and they greet all the groups coming afterward. The queen leaves this position only when the group, which she is originally from, pass the route of the carnival. Spectators usually gather to see the march all along its route. If the weather is good, up to 100,000 spectators may attend the carnival. Traditionally, the last group are Halubajski zvončari, and when they pass the march is over. Depending on the number of participants, this usually happens between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Of course, the march doesn't mark the finish of the carnival. On the same evening, there is manifestation called burning of the Pust. Pust is a puppet, that has some satiric name, very often after some politician, and he is blamed for all the bad things that happened in the preceding year. This event is held in Rijeka harbor, and before he is taken to the sea, reading of charges is held, where a spokesman reads all of his sins. Afterwards, a boat takes the Pust to the sea and it is burned there. This tradition is held in all places around Rijeka, but it's held on Tuesday or Wednesday after the carnival.

In the last few years there are several parties held on various locations in Rijeka, some starting day before the carnival, and end in the night after the carnival. The most known is a carnival party held on Korzo, where various DJs perform.

See also

* Carnival
* Rijeka

External links

[http://www.ri-karneval.com.hr Official web site]