Folk Culture – How to Celebrate Hot August Nights

Around the 15 August, the traditional time for the Feast of the Assumption, many locations in Slovenia offer unique experiences connected with ancient local traditions and folk culture.   A variety of pilgrimages and processions honouring the event take place include a picturesque nautical procession of boats in Piran along the Adriatic. Experience authentic Slovenia in August!

The Shepherds' Ball in Jezersko and a similar event in Šmihel nad Mozirjem held from 14 to 16 August illustrate rural customs of times gone by. For 10 days before this event one can experience the life of herdsmen past and present on the beautiful plateau; Velika Planina during the Herdsmen's Holiday of Our Lady of the Snows. On 15 August Idrija comes alive with a traditional event called Prfarski Štrukljevc, at which traditional štruklji (a kind of strudel with a variety of sweet and savoury fillings) are served. In this period traditional village days are celebrated in many parts of Slovenia, along with parish fairs and blessings. Davča, not far from Škofja Loka, hosts a traditional flax-dressers' day where visitors can see how flax is gathered from the fields, how it is dried and dressed and how flax thread is wound, and see examples of weaving and thread making and the other work of the flax-dressers.

Remote Kostel, in the south of Slovenia, hosts the Tamburanje event in mid-August. This event features music played on characteristic tamburitzas (a family of long-necked lutes) and also a fair selling souvenirs and local crafts products, typical local dishes, displays of folk traditions, a world music festival and workshops for children.

In mid-August vineyard owners have their own events, when they set up wind-rattles among the ripening grapes and organise a special festivity to mark the occasion. One special day is the setting-up of the city wind-rattle in Maribor, the home of the oldest vine in the world. This year the wind-rattle will be set up in Maribor on 22 August. The wind-rattle, used to scare away the birds that would otherwise eat the grapes, reaches impressive dimensions in the case of Maribor: it is 8 metres high, and the blades are 4 metres long, scaring even the most adventurous birds away!

Find links to the programmes of musical and other events in Slovenia in the Events section at www.slovenia.info