Cerknica Carnival

Each year on Fat Thursday the traditional madness begins, Cerknica ceases to be Cerknica, replaced by ‘Butale’ the town of the ‘Butalci’ or hillbillies, whose mayor takes control for a week of carnival festivities. First on the program is the traditional “sawing of the witch”, where locals deal with Uršula, the mother of the Slivnica witches, by taking a blade to her. Then on Saturday a masked parade is held for children in the sports hall. Whilst the main event of the carnival kicks off at “somewhere around 12:32 on the dot” on Sunday, or so the programme says, with various costumed characters including hillbillies and the giant witch Uršula, along with whip cracking locals and marching bands, parading along the main street in town. The carnival festivities are great fun, with most visitors getting into the spirit of things and dressing up themselves. The festivities also feature traditional carnival treats like donuts (krofi) and mulled wine (kuhano vino).