Carnival time!

Between February 6th and 17th, Samobor will once again be the cheerful host to the 189th edition of the famous Samobor Carnival, enjoyed by many citizens of Zagreb as well as numerous tourists.

Prepare your masks, it’s carnival time, and one of the craziest carnivals with a long-standing tradition takes place every year in Samobor. The 189th edition of the Samobor Carnival begins on February 6th when the traditional carnival characters: the Prince, the Magpie, the Judge and the Lawyer, will receive the key to the city and declare an Independent Carnival Republic. Masked fun will go on until February 17th. This year’s carnival is dedicated to film and organized under the motto “One flew over the magpie’s nest”. Rather appropriately and in line with the theme, it will be attended by masked Hollywood and Bollywood stars. During the carnival various locations across town will be dominated my motifs from popular films, with imaginative décor designed by the best Croatian caricaturists, Nik Titanik (Nikola Plečko) and Niko Barun.

Traditionally, the liveliest part of the carnival will be the Children’s Carnival, taking place on February 7th and 8th, as well as February 14th and 15th, when more than 3,500 masked children are expected to parade through the city, enjoying diverse music and entertainment programmes. The youngest carnival goers can also take part in Srakotrk (the Magpie Run), a traditional orientation race in which kids must discover “hidden” checkpoints in the centre of the Carnival Republic in order to win a gold medal and other gifts. That is not all, however, as the kids and all the other carnival visitors will also have many other events to enjoy, because the Samobor Carnival is the greatest carnival in north-western Croatia, as well as the most important tourism and entertainment event in Samobor.

The organizer of the 189th edition of the Samobor Carnival is the Samobor Tourist Board, while its sponsors are the City of Samobor, the Croatian Tourist Board and Zagreb County.

More information, as well as the programme of all events during this year’s carnival, can be found online at www.fasnik.com.