Carnivals in Croatia

Carnivals in Croatia take place before Easter in pre-Lenten period (February). They are based on on Christian culture but also on pre-Christian traditions. The culmination of every carnival is during a weekend before the Ash Wednesday. Colourful parades and other entertaining events and parties are held all over Croatia.

The most known and popular carnivals take place in Rijeka, Samobor, Istria and Dubrovnik.


Rijeka International Carnival (http://www.ri-karneval.com.hr/) is the biggest carnival in Croatia and one of the largest in the world (some say it is the third biggest carnival, after those in Rio de Janeiro and Venice). Over 100,000 cheerful spectators witness the main parade, which is made up of around 150 carnival groups from a dozen or so different countries. The carnival events are an amazing blend of traditional European carnivals, primarily Venetian and Austrian characteristics, and of elements of Slavic folklore and mythology.

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Istrian carnivals are held in many towns and villages and are the most known by “Zvoncari” and their traditional carnival parades. Zvoncari wear sailor's outfits, i.e. striped shirts, socks over white pants and wide bright red belts around the waist. Fully equipped zvoncari wear grotesque masks made of wood and cardboard as well as of parts of lamb or rabbit pelts, and sometimes have red noses and always have horns. Zvoncari are usually in groups and, depending on the village they come from, use different steps, meaning that the bells ring differently for different groups. When in front of a house or a crowd they collide on purpose in order to make their bells ring as loud as possible. The most known Zvoncari come from Kastav.

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Dubrovnik Carnival
Dubrovnik Carnival dates back to the 14th century and maintains many of the original traditions to this day. People gather from surrounding areas to dress up in garish costumes, parading down the streets to the sound of trumpets and drums. Jousting competitions take place in the city centre, with men on horseback carrying lances aimed for a silver ring tied to a rope above the horse trail.

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Samobor Carnival - Samoborski Fasnik - http://www.fasnik.com/
Samobor is a small town just 20 km west of Zagreb and linked to the capital by frequent bus service, good roads, and lots of tour operators, so it is a convenient, worthwhile destination. Very diverse tourist offer of Samobor also includes numerous traditional festivities and events. One such festivity has been the mark of the region for the past 170 years – the famous Samobor Carnival one of the most attractive and biggest in this part of Croatia. Besides, the people of Samobor said long ago: “Fools have a carnival every day, and sober only during Carnival”. Carnival has been a fixture in Samobor for more than a century, and the town really rocks while it's on culminating with hordes of masked merrymakers swarming the streets and a huge fireworks display.

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