Cleveland Kurentovanje (pronounced koo-rehn-toh-VAHN-yeh) is a Slovenian-American festival celebrating the end of winter and the beginning of spring, taking place annually the weekend before

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the ...

, in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, mirroring

Kurentovanje Kurentovanje is Slovenia's most popular and ethnologically significant carnival event first organised in 1960 by Drago Hasl. This 11-day rite of spring and fertility highlight event is celebrated on Shrove Sunday in Ptuj, the oldest documented ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. The celebration is best known for its costumed Kurents (or Kurenti) — furry creatures with carnival masks, sheepskin hats, and cowbells. Folklore describes the beasts waking up from hibernation each year to send away winter’s chill. The city of

Ptuj Ptuj (; german: Pettau, ; la, Poetovium/Poetovio) is a town in northeastern Slovenia that is the seat of the Municipality of Ptuj. Ptuj, the oldest recorded city in Slovenia, has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and developed from a Roman ...

, where many Clevelanders have roots, is the epicenter for the Kurentovanje festival in Slovenia.

Festivities

The annual celebration is centered around the

St. Clair–Superior St. Clair–Superior is a neighborhood on the East Side in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. Largely settled in the 1880s and 1890s by Eastern European immigrants, white flight in the 1990s left the neighborhood largely African American. I ...

neighborhood, which includes St. Vitus Church, Cleveland ''Slovenian National Home'', and ''Slovenian Museum and Archives''. The celebration begins with the "Kurent Jump," when the Kurents emerge from hibernation alongside the bonfire, music, and dance. Spectators line the streets as the parade route begins at Saint Martin de Porres High School on East 62nd and Lausche Avenue, and proceeds down

St. Clair Avenue St. Clair Avenue is a major east-west street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was laid out in the late 18th century by the British as a concession road (the Third Concession), north of Bloor Street and north of Queen Street. St. Clair Avenue ...

, ending at the Slovenian National Home. Much of the festival itself is celebrated at the end of the parade route. Common foods include kremšnite, Slovenian smoked sausage, sauerkraut and pierogies. Common drinks include local beer made from Styrian and Slovenian hops, and

slivovitz Slivovitz is a fruit spirit (or fruit brandy) made from damson plums, often referred to as plum spirit (or plum brandy). If anyone else has a dictionary of some Slavic language that translates your word for slivovitz as "plum brandy", please ...

liquor.

History

Greater Cleveland The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census results, the five-county ...

contains the most

Slovene Americans Slovene Americans or Slovenian Americans are Americans of full or partial Slovene or Slovenian ancestry. Slovenes mostly immigrated to America during the Slovene mass emigration period from the 1880s to World War I. History The first Slove ...

in the United States. So much population exists,

Downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio. The economic and symbolic center of the city and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square laid out ...

is home to a

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth count ...

for Slovenia. The first Cleveland Kurentovanje parade and festival began in 2013. Due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

, the 2021 celebration was held entirely online.

External links

References

{{Cleveland Festivals in Cleveland Festivals established in 2013 Slovene-American culture in Cleveland 2013 establishments in Ohio