Cleveland’s Slovenian Kurentovanje Festival celebrates the beginning of spring with the arrival of the “kurenti,” scary monsters of traditional Slovene folklore that drive away the cold, dark days of winter.
The National Slovenian Home at 6407 St. Clair Ave. is hosting the 13th annual Kurentovanje Festival all this week. Events conclude Saturday, March 1, with a bocce tournament, a 5K run and a parade starting at noon.
Cleveland is still home to the largest diaspora of Slovenians in the world. Around 80,000 Slovenians settled in Cleveland in two waves — the late 1800s and again after the Second World War. Cleveland’s Kurentovanje Festival (pronounced koo-rehn-toh-VAHN-yeh) is the largest Slovenian festival in the United States.
The festival kicked off Saturday, Feb. 22, with the Kurent Jump, signifying the arrival of the kurenti from hibernation to ring their loud bells and scare away the forces of winter and usher in spring. A kurent resembles a demon dressed in a large sheepskin costume. They carry a belt of large bells around their waists that ring when the creatures shake their hips.
“The purpose of the jump is that it’s the first time we’re seeing them,” said festival organizer Lauren Calevich. “Tonight’s the night they’re gonna come out of hibernation and start their mission scaring away winter.”
Around 8 p.m. Friday night, event-goers were invited outdoors to the parking lot to witness the arrival of the kurenti as they bounced around a bonfire and shook their large bells. Audience members cheered and rang their own bells welcoming the kurents as they danced by the fire.
Complimentary bread and juha, Slovenian bean soup, were served to guests who came outdoors into the cold for the kurents’ arrival. Audience members stopped to take selfies with the large, hairy creatures and asked them to bring around some warmer temperatures.
Brad Fisher, a parade marshal and also a kurent, shared some of the shenanigans and challenges that come along with being a nearly 8-foot-tall, wool-covered mythical creature ringing loud, large bells around the city.
Last year, Fisher said, two kurents were kicked out of a certain iconic Cleveland landmark for dancing down the aisleways during a photo shoot. “I don’t know, maybe we didn’t coordinate it right or something … They tolerated us for a couple minutes and then they were like, ‘OK, time to go,’” he laughed.
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Fisher said this year, several members of the kurenti visited the Cleveland Mounted Police Unit in costume to condition the horses to be around the creatures. Some horses were scared by a kurent costume worn in the 5K run last year.
The festival concludes with a closing ceremony at 5 p.m. Saturday where the kurenti will be relieved of their bell-ringing duties and returned to hibernation for another year.
“In Ptuj, in Slovenia, where this tradition started, the kurents take over the city, and their closing ceremony then is giving the city back to the public officials,” explained Calevich.“Ours is on a way smaller scale, but we still do that. And we have our consul general for Slovenia, who’s here in Cleveland, Suzana Češarek, and she will be here to accept the city back from the kurents.”
Other Kurentovanje activities continue through this week leading up to the 5K run, bocce tournament and parade on Saturday. For more information, visit clevelandkurentovanje.com.