Masked Madness in Rijeka at One of Europe’s Biggest Carnivals

Rijeka Carnival one of the biggest in Europe

The Rijeka Carnival, which is one of the world’s biggest carnivals, will ends in style next weekend with the Grand Finale – International Carnival Parade…

This year’s carnival kicked off on 17 January and official ends on 10 February with more than 10,000 people expected again to take part in next Sunday’s Grand Finale carnival parade in Croatia’s third largest city – Rijeka.

The Rijeka Carnival Queen Pageant and Handover of the City Key marked the beginning of the masked madness this year, followed by the crazy Paris-Bakar Carnival Auto-Rally. The most colorful and cheerful period of the year in the region will see the Children’s Carnival Parade take place this Saturday with International Carnival Parade the icing on the cake on 7 February.

The International Carnival parade draws people from all around Europe and has been a February tradition in the city since 1982, with more than 150,000 visitors last year.

(photos: visitrijeka)