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UID:352@coolcleveland.com
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York;VALUE=DATE:20260214
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York;VALUE=DATE:20260215
DTSTAMP:20260402T042755Z
URL:https://coolcleveland.com/events/kurentovanje-festival-is-back-to-try-
 to-chase-away-the-winter/
SUMMARY:Kurentovanje Festival Is Back to Try to Chase Away the Winter
DESCRIPTION:[caption id="attachment_171085" align="alignnone" width="700"] 
 Photo by Anastasia Pantsios[/caption]\nSat 2/14 @ 10AM-5PM\nThe Cleveland 
 festival season kicks off this weekend with one of our favorites: Kurentov
 anje. It’s a relatively new entry in the Northeast Ohio festival calenda
 r\, only in its 14th year.\nIt came about when people involved in archivin
 g and sharing the history of Cleveland’s Slovenian community (which brou
 ght us the Cleveland-style polka\, among other things) wanted to bring mor
 e attention to the area’s Slovenian heritage. They decided to create the
 ir own version of a festival called Kurentovanje\, held each year in the S
 lovenian city of Ptuj\, which attracts hordes of tourists. It features fur
 ry-suited “kurenti” ringing giant bells to chase away the winter. It d
 ebuts in 2013 outside the National Slovenian Home on St. Clair and East 65
 th\, as a small neighborhood festival.\nNow thousands of people line St. C
 lair to greet the parade of high school marching bands\, ethnic dance grou
 ps\, local businesses and polka bands and the increasing number of kurenti
  (even little kids now parade in the furry suits) and pour into the Sloven
 ian home and its grounds afterward for an afternoon of music\, food\, drin
 k\, dance and other activities. It’s also expanded into a weeklong serie
 s of cultural events\, such as films\, lectures and cooking demonstrations
  leading up to the big day.\nThe festival day now kicks off at 9am\, when 
 registration starts in the front lobby of the Slovenian Home for the Kuren
 t Dash 5K\, which steps off at 10am. (You can register in advance here.) 
 That’s also when the doors open at the Slovenian Home\, for food\, drink
 \, music and kids’ activities\, which continue all day with crafts\, gam
 es\, face painting\, story time\, sing-alongs and polka music on the lower
  level. Kids can make colorful headdresses to wear outside when the parade
  steps off at noon.\nAfter the parade\, there’ll be four stages of music
  and other entertainment including the ballroom stage with rock band LoCon
 ti and the Festa Band\, as well as folk dance performances\; a stage downs
 tairs in the kids’ area with polka music by the Garrett Tatano and Antho
 ny Culkar bands\; the club room stage featuring the Breakfast Club playing
  rock covers’ and the outside tent where Kurenovanje regulars The Chardo
 n Polka Band energize the crowd with high-energy polka versions of pop and
  rock hits. Things get crazy out there!\nKurentovanje concludes at 5pm wit
 h the Pokop Pusta (Closing Ceremony) outside by the fire pits\, where an e
 ffigy is burned and buried\, signifying the end of the festival. The Kuren
 ti unmask and place black streamers in the coffin to be burned. The festiv
 al is extremely family-friends\, free and open to everyone. You definitely
  don’t have to be Slovenian to have a good time!\nGet more information a
 nd a full schedule here.\nclevelandkurentovanje.com/\n[mappress mapid="104
 2"]\n
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://coolcleveland.com/wp-content/uploads/202
 6/02/Kurentovanje1.jpeg
CATEGORIES:Dance,Workshop,Holidays,Contest,RSS,Free,Preview,Anastasia
 Pantsios,Music: Popular,Outdoors,----WRITERS----,Visual
 Arts,Drinks,Performance,Festival,Eats,Civic
 Affairs,History,Entrepreneurialism,Education,Culture,Kids,Teen,college
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