Let us start by saying that the Cerkno Carnival (Laufarija) is ancient European Street Theatre at it's VERY VERY BEST..

You will have to go a long way to find culture as unique, vintage and special as this and now we have experienced it for ourselves and understood a little bit of what is going on here in Cerkno, we would put the Laufarija into the same exceptional catergory as the Skofja Loka Passion Play, (Unesco protected and only performed once every 5 years at Easter)..

Carnival season in Cerkno starts on the first Sunday in January when the 80 strong members of the Laufarija society get together in their own little cottage workshop in the centre of the village and start making the 3 costumes that are  freshly renewed every year with ivy leaves, moss and spruce cuttings to be ready for the carnival story procession that will roll though the streets on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

 

Some members will be sewing the leaves onto the costumes by hand whilst others sit in a locked room preparing the long list of charges against the PUST, who is the villain of the peace and represents the winter that must be expelled by the end of the Laufarija..

If you rocked up in Cerkno at carnival time and saw this tradition playing out, you would most certainly have a wonderful time, but if you also knew the history and meaning of each character and the strict order of the procession and events as well, then wow, you would feel like a member of this special cast and part of the history here..

 

Why is the Cerkno Carnival just so Magical & Special?

Yes this is a carnival, but it is also a street performance with 25 specific characters, or "Masks", all moving and behaving in exactly how they should according to the local tradition that has been passed down by word of mouth over centuries..

It is a pagan celebration dating from around the 14th or 15th centuries and has more of a German connection with the hills of the Tirol than say the Italian vibe you might feel at other Slovenian carnivals..

 

There is also a German connection with the massive Mercury Mine down the road in Idrija, which connected this mini region to the rest of Europe long before many other parts of Slovenia..

In Cerkno the carnival is called Laufarija, which sounds a bit like the German "laufen", which means "to run" and you will see plenty of running and dancing around here!

The Laufarija story is simple.. PUST must be tried and executed, winter must be banished for another year..

 

He is paraded in front of the towns people and brought to a central stage on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, around 3pm and finally executed TWO days later on Pancake Tuesday!

But this is a story that was almost lost in time for ever..

Laufarija was performed uninterrupted for centuries until 1914, when it stopped during WW1 and then after 1919 a whole swathe of Slovenia, including Cerkno was subjected to brutal control by Italy and surnames were forcibly changed to Italian, the Slovenian language was repressed and the Laufaria was banned.

 

The Nazis took contol of this area during WW2 and sadly ALL the original costumes were burnt during a bombing on 18 Mar 1944.. Indeed Cerkno was almost completely flattened by the end of this war.

However local hero Petr Brelih returned to Cerkno from Ljubljana after the war and reincarnated the Laufarija in the 1950's from what he remembered as a boy and from what the older people in the village could remember too.

 

It restarted in 1956 with 14 characters and has expanded to the current number of 25, we will tell you what we know about each character below..

Researching the Laufarija..

Of course the best thing you could do is to experience the Laufarija for yourself, which would mean being in Cerkno for the Sunday before Ash Wednesday..

Failing that, you can actually go and see the ORIGINAL costumes in the LAUFARIJA cottage workshop in Cerkno OR see copies of all the costumes at the Cerkno museum..

 

We decided to go to both of them the week before carnival so we would be properly prepared to understand the Laufarija itself and we could also write this article!

You can arrange a visit to the Laufarija Cottage Workshop by calling Miha on 00386 (0)641 360 14.

He and Toni, another of the cast of 80 Laufarija members were fantastic hosts and warmly welcomed me into the cottage, which has a giant mask on the wall outside.

A big thanks goes to them from us for their kind hospitality and detailed explanations..

 

The cottage is small, but colourful, quaint & traditional and this is where ALL the action takes place from the first Sunday in January!

The members meet here in the main room downstairs to hand sew the three organic character costumes for the PUST, the SPRUCE MAN and the IVY MAN, using 8-10 THOUSAND leaves in the costumes!

 

There is a side door, always closed, to a secret room where the committee meet to write scrolls & scrolls of accusations against the PUST that will be read out from 2pm on carnival Sunday at the trial.

PUST is definetely the villain of the peace and any bad weather or the smallest of complaints from the past year are noted and charged against him.. Other villagers are also mentioned in this charge sheet for small misdemeanors, but in a light hearted way, so as not to cause WW3 in the village.

 

The script is written in a very old fashioned local dialect, so even some of the locals might struggle to understand it.. which means for us visitors, this is probably the least interesting part of the ceremony..

Miha took me into another big side room, where ALL the costumes are stored on hooks with the wooden masks and names above.

 

It looks and feels a bit like a football changing room where footballers put their kit on before the game and actually this is EXACTLY what it is used for!

Miha carefully explained about each costume and mask in order and detail, so they seemed to come alive.

 

He explained that the performers are ALL males, even for the ladies costumes and different members can play different characters over the years!

The whole story was starting to become really fascinating and unique!

Miha also explained that the players take great pride in hiding their identities when they become a character, so even their own families and friends do not know which character they are playing this year!

 

He showed how each player wears a shawl scarf under the mask, so nobody can recognise them from the side and there is even a shoe cupboard with specific footwear for each character!

The players must also adopt the exact characteristics of the costume they play, so change their walk, how they stand, some must bend over, run around and of course several wear ladies shoes!

So the Laufarija is a little like a rugby team, where different shapes and sizes of people can play different positions!

 

Miha also confirmed that whenever his dad played a costume the family could never guess which one he was!

There are 25 costumes and 24 wooden masks, one mask is made form goats skin and it was totally fascinating to see how different each mask was as Miha took delight in explaining it all.

There was a final treat to go upstairs to a little room in the roof with the window open to allow cool air in, where the three green costumes were hanging in different states of readiness!

 

The PUST costume was finished with all the fresh moss in place, but just a week before carnival, the Ivy Man's suit was still half finished and you could also see the sheer weight of just the trousers he must wear!

Even if you are not here in Cerkno for carnival time, we STRONGLY recommend you come visit this "behind the scenes" Laufarija workshop!

 

Cerkno Museum..

This grand building houses an entire Laufarija exhibition and two other local displays..

Firstly you can go see the long varied history of the town of Cerkno, which is always interesting in Slovenia cos most places have been controlled by so many different countries & empires over the years and Cerkno is no exception!

 

Upstairs there is a room full of stuff all about the Franja WW2 Secret Partisan Hospital, which is hidden up a stunning mountain gorge about 10 mins outside Cerkno.

This is quite simply one of the best living museums in the whole of Europe, but unfortunately the wooden buildings were washed away in a 2023 flood and it will take several years to rebuild it, but when it is.. make sure you go see it, cos it is unbelievably good.

 

You will get some important details about the hospital here at the museum and there is a bust of possibly Slovenia's greatest ever Person, Dr Franja to greet you as you enter the museum..

But the main exhibiton here is a large room stuffed with life sized replicas of ALL the costimes with their masks.. If you are standing here on your own in this room, it can feel a little bit scary too!

 

There is plenty of info about the Laufarija and the costumes here and a handy exhibit showing how the masks were carved..

Also make sure you watch the plentiful videos on offer, especially of the final judgement on Shrove Tuesday, when PUST is found guilty and bashed on the head with a wooden mallet by the OLD MAN..

 

And you absolutely MUST watch the video of the "HAPPY SAD" dance, which we will now explain below with some more, final interesting facts about this most amazing European street theatre.

 

Cerkno Laufarija more Facts & Figures..

The masks are made from Lime tree (Linden) wood, which is very light and good for carving.

The players cannot speak during the Laufarija, only the Old Man may speak.

They must always stay in the strict order of appearance.

 

The White ghosts are the Policemen of the Laufarija and run around tirelessly, chasing small children, making space for the procession to pass and they are also the captors of PUST, so expect to see him being pushed around or bullied by them..

Before they put the masks on the players wipe the inside with schnapps to sterilise them..

This street theatre is completely unique, there is no other Laufarija in the entire world..

 

The characters and traditions are passed on by word of mouth, nothing was ever written down..

At around 11am on Carnival Sunday, but after Mass, the players first emerge from the Laufarija workshop in strict order and march into the town centre then disappear again until the afternoon..

 

The main procession takes place at 2-3pm on Sunday, when the Judges march into town and then the procession follows, finally arriving on the big green stage, where the accusations are made against PUST..

The charge sheet can be as long as 8-9 metres of paper and can take hours to read!

The characters appear randomly from Sun to Tues around the town and accept gifts from local residents.. Strong alcohol appears to be a particular favourite!

 

The wooden Mallet is "found" by the Old Man on Tuesday and he uses this to bop PUST on the head and end winter..

Then Pust vanishes into the forest and winter is banished..

This is a very special moment and it brings both happy and sad emotions to the characters..

 

They are very sad cos the Laufarija is finally over and they have to say goodbye to their mates, but it is also a happy time cos spring is coming!

So the final action on stage is the repeated playing of the Capucin song, which we will describe here as the "Happy-Sad" song!

When the music is sad, most of the characters roll around on the floor in misery and when the music becomes happy, they all jump up and dance!

 

It is sad and they all fall over cos they will miss their friends, but then happy and they all dance cos spring is coming

There is lots of local gossip about who is palying which character, but nobody ever finds out!

And finally, keep a look out for the really cool GREEN BEANIES with HORNS, (like the PUST) on that seem to be worn by other members of the Laufarija society not playing the characters this year..

 

WOW, what a show!

All you need to do now is go see it and that is exactly what we did!!!

 

When we went to the Cerkno Laufarija..

We decided to turn up just before 11am on the Carnival Sunday and it took us just 1 hour 10 mins driving on idyllic country roads from the Lodge vua Idrija to reach Cerkno..

The very centre of the town is blocked off to cars for the carnival so we easily found a parking space just outside and walked in.. 3 mins..

We waited outside the Laufarija Cottage workshop and there were a few excited kids there shouting taunts who soon dispersed at rapid speed as the three White Ghosts suddenly appeared and chased them off.

 

Then the rest of the characters filtered out and marched in that perfect order down into the town, did a little circle in the centre and marched back!

The whole thing lasted around 20 mins and the White Ghosts caused plenty of mayhem and excitement, but this was just a starter and we realised the main course would start again nearer 2pm.

So we had a look around the museum, had a coffee and went to the Strucklu restaurant in the town centre for a lovely lunch! (Cerkno is also the home of a rare local ravioli filled with potato dish called Zilikrof, so you MUST try that here too)!

 

It was then time to go back into the centre and every alleyway was now blocked off and people were asked to pay €5 each to enter, which is more than fair for a fayre..

The central square had now filled up with residents and visitors wearing fancy dress and excitedley awaiting a big party, but this is not a massive affair with maybe just a couple of hundred people there, so not packed and everyone is friendly and easy going.

We looked around and think we were very probubbly the ONLY foreign people here, so it is up to you to be the next ones there to see this amazing Slovenian show!

 

The characters returned, did a march, in the same order of course and this time climbed up onto the stage for the start of the trial..

It was easy for us to find a space along the carnival route to see the characters up close and then to walk up to the stage to see them all standing there, some waving, some scowling, with poor old PUST in the middle of it all!

We decided the start of the trial was time up for us and we left the show here, but this would be where the trial would begin and the charge sheet would be read out..

 

WOW, what a day and what fun!

And finally, could we tell you which of the 25 characters was being played by Miha.. Not a chance!!

So very finally, here is our list of what we have understood about each character to help identify them and to enjoy the street party for yourselves..

 

the 25 Characters.. they march in EXACTLY this order..

1.2.3.. the Three White Ghosts.. the Policemen (Taterjest).. 

 

These 3 characters lead the procession and organise or disorganise everything on the day, causing order and chaos in equal quantities, always running & bouncing around, wearing linen costumes that make them float around like ghosts with sticks..

They do crowd control making sure spectators keep a safe distance and are also the prison guards for the main Pust character, making sure he keeps in the procession and makes it to the stage for his trial and ultimate execution..

 

They carry long bendy sticks and like chasing hysterical children around.

They also like to take small rests on tops of bins and roofs!

 

4.. the Baker.. (Ta Laparjeu)..

 

The Baker is the leader of the carnival procession and carries a big Pizza bread paddle announcing the forthcoming death of PUST and the date of the carnival. 

 

5. the ill Man.. with the plague (Ta Hrastau)..

 

This man is very ill and has the plague with big spots on his mask.. He plays the accordian too.

 

6. the Old Man.. (Ta Star)..

 

This is the only character who is allowed to speak and he is the executioner who will finally hit PUST on the head with his wooden mallet, dispatching winter for another year..

He wears a big Mexican like hat and waves to the crowd a lot, he seems very friendly for an executioner..

 

7. the Old Lady.. (Ta Stara)..

She accompanies the Old Man and her back is bent from working so much on the crops. She has a broom to sweep away the winter and does a lot of sweeping, the street cleaners must be very happy with her contribution!

 

8. Pust.. the Bad Guy

 

This is the villain of the party, the evil one, he must be tried and executed..

His costume is made from moss freshly sewn onto his costume and he carries a small pine tree on his shoulder..

He is ultimately for the chop, the Old Man will bash him on the head with the big wooden mallet, but only after a lot of dancing around and accusations on the stage..

 

9. the Spruce Man.. Pust's brother.. (Ta Smerka)..

 

He is PUST's brother and his heavy outfit is made from spruce needle branches individually sewn on, which must weigh a tonne!

 

10.Lamant.. (the Meaning of this character is lost)

 

This is the only mask made from goats skin and not Linden Lime tree wood.. Nobody knows what the name means exactly as the meaning has been lost to time and he wears a sheep's wool coat, bound together with rope and wooden hooks and he carries a big stick..

He looks pretty scary..

 

11. the Shepherd.. (Ta Kazuhau)..

Has a big wooden fork and carries a basket with a cow bell

 

12. the Farmer.. (Ta Zakleu)..

He has quite chubby face due to all the good food he has eaten in the winter..

 

13. the Straw Man.. Thatcher.. (Ta Slamnatn)

 

Wears a thached straw costume to represent the ancient art of thatching roofs..

 

14. Another Shepherd.. (Ta Licnatn)..

 

Wears a more traditional costume that protects from the rain and has a very red face as he spends all his time outside..

 

15. the Ivy Man.. (Ta Brslanau)..

 

His costume must be hand made with thousands of fresh green leaves every year and he represents the new Spring or new life..

 

16. Daisy.. (Marjetina).. 

 

She is the Ivy Man's girlfriend and also represents the Spring coming.. The Player must wear high heels for this gig!

These 2 characters are very friendly, with painted on smiles, but you kinda get the nervy feeling if the world was ever controlled by robots, then they would have this couple's facial expressions!

 

17. Mr Posh.. (Gaspud)..

 

Represents the rich people from the other side of town, well dressed with fine clothes and has a walking stick and top hat..

 

18. Mrs Posh.. (Gaspa)..

Mr Posh's wife with very fine clothes indeed and carries a parasol..

 

19. Evil Grumpy Old Guy.. (Ta Zleht)

Always grumpy, complaining and mean, he wears a black coat and plays an old fashioned accordian.. He goes from village to village begging, putting his gains in his backpack, often they are pork ribs..

Has a dark grey, sad looking face..

 

20. the Feathered One.. Chicken.. (Ta Pierjeu)..

 

Has the face of a highly respected resident and one time carnival member, this mask was creted in special memorium for him, the name of his house was "Chicken", so his name is Chicken, hence the feathers..

 

21. the Drunk Man.. (Ta Pjan)..

 

He went to market to sell his Ox and ending up spending the money down the pub, now he just has the OX chains to show for it.. Let's face it, we have all been there!!

He will be dragged around by his angry wife, literally..

 

22. the Drunk Man's Wife.. (Ta Pjana)..

 

This is one of the most random and spontaneous characters in the parade. She had to come looking for her drunk husband and is constantly arguing with him, but ends up having a wee bit too much to drink too, so spends most of here time staggering around and dragging her husband across the road behind her..

If you consider this player has to dress up as a woman and drag a grown man around, then this is a tough role!

 

23. the Basket Woman.. (Ta Kaseva)..

 

She had to look for her drunk husband and put him in the basket to carry him home.. so she is always walking with a bent back..

But look carfefully as the player is NOT wearing the lady's mask, that is attached to the top of her coat, whilst the player ACTUALLY wears the husband's mask peeping out from inside the basket!

So in fact there are 26 "masks" in the carnival, but 25 players..

This is a very demanding role to play too as you have to keep your back bent to depict the woman carrying the heavy basket!

 

24. the Wild man of the Forest.. (Ta Devi)..

 

He is one of the most recent characters and suddenly appeared in Cerkno after living in the forest, so he is afraid of everything, very nervous and dressed in goat skin.

 

25. the Bar Owner.. (Vastier)..

 

The very last character to be added to the procession is the bar owner, so he will always also appear at the end of the parade..

He appears quite contented with life and is carrying a bottle.

We sincerely hope this article might help you to decide to look up when next carnival time is in Green Slovenia and come for a vist to see the Laufarija in all it's glory.

 

But Cerkno has a lot else to offer, particularly in nature with those huge mountains surrounding the village.

We already mentioned the amazing WW2 Secret Partisan hospital, but there is also a walk to a cave where they found the oldest musical instrument in the world, a flute made from bone and there is another festival here in the summer, this time for Jazz.. nice!

 

You could easily combine visiting Cerkno with lots of different daytrip loop options from the Lodge like the Most na Soci lake, one of the most beautiful, least known lakes in Slovenia, amazing Tolmin, the Vipava Valley and Idrija, to name just a few possibilities, probably every single one of these sercet Green places might not be known to you now, but we would say how on earth could you consider visiting Green Slovenia and not seeing them!!

And there are several other large carnivals in Green Slovenia too, so we did a whole CARNIVAL page for you to have a look at, party on!