adminThe official start of the festivities starts with the Carnival Queen Pageant but preparing for the next carnival starts as early as the one before ends for the most passionate groups. On the pageant, the city chooses their queen, while the king is the same every year. After the queen is chosen, the city mayor gives the key to the city of the carnival king and the fifth season of the year can start!
Queen Pageant
The contestants are elected within their carnival groups and represent them in the contest.
They compete in cheerful attitude, charm, dancing and singing.
Children's Parade
As you can imagine, kids in Rijeka start getting masked and enjoying the carnival spirit as soon as they can walk, so even kindergartens in Rijeka have groups in the Children’s Carnival Parade.
In 2020 the parade had 70 groups, made mostly of kindergartens and primary schools in Rijeka and surrounding towns and villages. There are also events in schools where for one day, you can come to classes whatever you want to be!
International Parade
The atmosphere in the city centre during the carnival just cannot be explained by words, it has to be experienced!
The fifth season of the year finale
Every person in Rijeka is the most excited for the big finale of the Carnival – International Carnival Parade! The parade starts at noon when the king and queen walk along the parade route and greet all visitors of the parade.
All groups meet on the city docks (gathering point on the map), so any visitor can walk along the heart of the party to experience the incredible positive vibe and happiness ruling the day. The groups usually gather around their allegorical floats to play music and dance. Everyone is super friendly, so you can just join any group in their party any time!
The parade route starts from the waterfront to the river Riječina, moving towards the main promenade Korzo and the city clock. From there, it goes back to the waterfront and the gathering point of groups. There are 6 stages on the parade route and every group gets introduced while preforming at each stage. Therefore, there is a perfect viewing point for everyone somewhere along the route!
As it can be seen from the picture below, carnival in Rijeka has a rich history. This allegorical float is pictured in 1903 next to the original Roman arch in the city centre.
A view of the gathering point at the waterfront in the morning
Other attractions
Zvončari (Bell ringers)
This Slavic pagan tradition survived in Rijeka region until today and was protected by UNESCO in 2009. Many neighbourhoods in Rijeka and villages around it have their unique bell ringer groups which still follow their century old routes, ring the bells and make a lot of noise to scare away the evil spirits of winter and invite the spring! Each group has a version of their attire, but they are mostly dressed in sheepskin throw and carry big brass bells around their waist.
Morčići
Morčić is a symbol of Rijeka, dating back to 16th century! Some legends say it was born when Rijeka was attacked by the Ottoman empire and miraculously saved by stones falling from the sky. Others believe it was connected to Venetian interest in Oriental culture that was brought to Rijeka. Nevertheless, it is the perfect souvenir to remember Rijeka!
Allegoric trucks
Allegoric trucks are a part of the mask of groups that participate in the international parade. They represent a blend of huge amounts of creativity, time and effort made by group members. It is no surprise that some are a piece of art and the centre of the party!
Below is a video about bell ringers from Viškovo, Halubajski zvončari, preparing for a day of reliving a long tradition passed on by their ancestors for centuries, bell ringing. The beginning shows a bell ringer putting on his uniform, while on 4:16 you can see the group gathering in a circle to create a noise so powerful to scare the winter away!
