The 2024 Ljubljana Luv Fest takes place February 8 to March 12. It’s a “festival of love, art, and wandering with cultural events, guided tours, and interactive workshops”. The festival includes themed decorations, outdoor light installations, dance performances, concerts, and art displays.
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“St. Gregory’s Day is a holiday of love, as according to folk tradition, birds get married on this day.”
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Prešeren Day
Februarys 8 is also Prešeren Day, a public holiday of culture in honor of France Prešeren, Slovenia’s greatest poet. On this day, Ljubljana “museums, galleries, and other cultural institutions open their doors free of charge”.
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“Trnovski most (Trnovo Bridge) is a bridge across the Gradaščica River, linking two Ljubljana city quarters – Krakovo and Trnovo. A special feature of the bridge is the trees growing on it.” The house of Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik is located in Trnovo. www.rtvslo.si
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St. Gregory’s Day
In Ljubljana, the arrival of spring is marked by St. Gregory’s Day on March 12. Also known as “Slovenian Valentine’s Day,” folk tradition has it that “on St. Gregory’s Day, birds are joined in wedlock“.
Gregorčki
On the eve of St. Gregory’s Day, Gregorčki is celebrated along the Gragaščica Riverbank on Eipprova Street. The event “commemorates an old folk custom, when craftsmen released small wooden boats with burning candles along streams and rivers, symbolically saying goodbye to winter”.
During past celebrations, artisans “rejoiced that with the arrival of spring, they would no longer need artificial lights at work”. Today, “children launch St. Gregory’s boats on the Gradaščica”.
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“In days of yore, it was custom for maidens to look up into the sky, and it was believed that the first bird they saw indicated the type of husband they would marry.”
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The Ljubljana “spring experience” includes “cultural and musical programs that revitalize the image of old town”. Gradaščica River and Trnovo Bridge are the venue for events that are part of the architectural legacy of Jože Plečnik.
