Kurentovanje is one of Slovenia's most popular and ethnologically significant carnival events. This 10-day rite of spring and fertility is celebrated on Shrove Sunday in Ptuj, the oldest documented city in the region, and draws around 10,000 participants each year. In 2010, the 50th anniversary of the first organized instance of this festival was celebrated. This event owes much to the cultural historian Drago Hasl (1900-1976), who was convinced that it could help prevent the disappearance of traditional customs in surrounding villages.
Its main figure, known as kurent or korent, was seen 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 called ježevke, 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.
The kurent also wears heavy boots and special red or green leg warmers, while the head is covered by a towering furry hat festooned with ribbons, and a mask typically sporting a long, red tongue. Around its waist hangs a chain with huge bells attached. The two types of Slovene kurent are the so-called "feathery" (from the town of Markovci) and the "horned" ones (from Haloze), with the difference being mainly in the look of the head covering.
About the stamps
On the postcard
The stamp is one of the two of the set Folklore - Masks, designed by Milena Gregorčič and issued on January 31, 1996, to honor even Kurentovanje.
13 SIT - It's on the postcard 3066
70 SIT
On the envelope
The stamps are the two which form the series The Alps as a Habitat, designed by Velika Planina and issued on September 25, 2015.
References
Kurentovanje - Wikipedia
Sender: Slavica Radej (direct swap)
Sent from Brestanica (Styria / Slovenia), on 19.05.2017
Photo: Darinka Mladenovic
A neat and clear postmarks !
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