Slavonia: Carnival traditions make a visit to Croatia’s east worthwhile

by croatiaweek
January 28, 2022
in Travel

Slavonia: Old carnival traditions makes a visit to Croatia's east worthwhile

(Photo credit: Alen Vrlazić)

It’s carnival time, and we reveal to you the custom that makes a trip to Brod-Posavina in Croatia’s eastern Slavonian region worthwhile.

Do you know where Bebrina, Kupina, Oriovac, Sikirevci, Gundinci Ruščica or Stari Perkovci are? Now is the opportunity to discover them and relax in the rural idyll with great local specialties and the custom of carnival riding that will delight you

It doesn’t matter how cold winter is and if your hands and cheeks are freezing, they will tell you in Brod-Posavina County in the east of Croatia in southern Slavonian. There is no frost that can ‘not be melted’ by a glass of excellent Slavonian rakija.

(Photo credit: Ena Kokanovic Nagy)

Carnival riders who ride in the villages along the Sava these days also know that a good rakija will warm the stomach, open the appetite, so when you taste all the fine delicacies such as kulen, sausage, čvarci, krafne and Slavonian cakes…the pleasure is even greater. This is how the riders are welcomed, they sing and play, have fun the way it should be in this area.

(Photo credit: Ena Kokanović Nagy)

Once border guards, today heritage guards

This beautiful part of the Slavonian tradition is about two hundred years old, from the time of the border guards. Just at this time, ceremoniously dressed horsemen with carnival food and drink, visited – as the song says – graničare stare na graničnim postajama – old border guards at border stations. Upon their return, they gathered in the villages and celebrated carnivals.

(Photo credit: Alen Vrlazić)

So it has remained in this area to this day. Times have changed but the tradition has not been forgotten. There is a well known phrases locals like to use “Better that a village dies out than customs”.

More and more riders

Something has changed in the new millennium, though. Among the riders there are more and more female riders, lovers of horses, but also lovers of the rich Slavonian heritage.

(Photo credit: Alen Vrlazić)

Horse breeding associations, cultural and artistic societies, horse owners, locals, and their guests are all part of carnival riding. If you want to discover something beautiful, new, local and authentic, this is the right time to visit Brod-Posavina County.

From Bebrina to Ruščica and Stari Perkovci

Horses decorated, riders in traditional costumes, more than a hundred of them will pass through the villages along the Sava until the end of February.

(Photo credit: Alen Vrlazić)

“The first carnival ride starts on Sunday, January 30, in Bebrina, then continues on February 6 in Kupina, February 13 in Oriovac, February 20 in Sikirevci, February 26 in Gundinci, and ends on February 27 in Ruščica and Stari Perkovci. Although carnival riding is a tradition in the whole of Slavonia, as part of its rich border history it is especially attractive in the our county. In the villages of Brod-Posavina County, a tradition is cherished that has become an integral part of our tourist offer on family farms, ranches and farms,” said Ružica Vidaković, director of the Brod-Posavina County Tourist Board.