Ptuj, Slovenia – The oldest town in Slovenia, Ptuj, is renowned for its more than a thousand-year old history and 51 years of Kurentovanje, the most prominent cultural and ethnographic carnival event in this part of the world. The main mystic figure that gave name to this festival is the so-called Kurent or Korant known only in the region of Ptuj. Symbolically it represents a victory of good over evil, of the light over darkness. In 2012 Kurentovanje will take place between 11th and 21st February and is going to be one of the most outstanding events organised within the framework of the European Capital of Culture 2012 project.

Kurentovanje has been for decades a link between the past, present and future. Every year for more than half a century Ptuj has put on carnival colours and become a centre of this part of the world. This is the time when boundaries of time and space disappear, and barriers between worlds and people are lifted. In February 2012, for the 52nd time in a row, Ptuj will host organised groups of Kurents who will be accompanied for the first time by carnival and ritual masks from all over the world. Kurentovanje 2012 will be a turning point in the carnival history in Ptuj as 18 different carnival groups from abroad will participate in the festival which is thus getting important international dimensions. The programme will include various fields of interest, and should meet expectations of lovers of art, ethnography and music, even more so as Kurentovanje 2012 is the first important event within the European Capital of Culture 2012 project. In addition, Kurentovanje represents a unique cultural and ethnographic event in this part of the world and is the core of the Art and Heritage Festival. During the carnival, visitors will be able to attend around 150 different performances, events, concerts, exhibitions and lectures ranged in three thematic groups: EtnoFest, ArtFest and CarnivalFest. Variety programme is designed to meet all wishes and tastes. The organisers of Kurentovanje 2012 wish to underline the ethnographic importance of Kurentovanje or rather the core of this carnival event. Numerous carnival rituals and the current human experience clearly show that the rooted interpretation of the world and the universe, as set by Newton and Darwin, has been upgraded and developed. In addition, more and more anthropologists are trying to prove that the Cartesian division of reason and senses is erroneous. The myth of separation of still nature and man as a thinking entity, taught by the French philosopher René Descartes, is barely worth a citation in school books. These and many other discoveries call for a new and more profound approach to ancient cultures and languages with which it used to be possible to communicate with nature, animal world, human beings and finally with universe.

Various performances, carnival groups from 17 countries, among which the most exotic will come from Caribbian, Japan and Brazil, thematic groups, and the European Capital of Culture 2012 project will bring to Ptuj some 20,000 participants and 200,000 visitors from near and far. “Kurentovanje 2012 will be an event of superlatives,” says Branko Brumen, head of Kurentovanje project and president of FECC Slovenia. In any case, Kurentovanje 2012 will create bridges to countless towns and cities in Slovenia and abroad, to the physical and metaphysical worlds, to people of different ages, interests and beliefs. Kurentovanje 2012 will connect worlds.