Large colorful feathers, costumes decorated with zircons and glitter, long parade, recognizable music… Brazil? Wrong! It is the Carnival of Vrnjci
This year’s Carnival of Vrnjci, featuring carnival games without borders, performances of stand-up comedians, numerous dance companies, theatre plays, concerts of different music, Festival of popular music, DJ parties till early dawn and Great international carnival parade with around 2,500 participants, have all testified to the Vrnjačka Banja’s reputation of the center of great fun and music.
Hot carnival atmosphere, camera flashes and more than 150 hours of program helped this already famous manifestation attract around 200,000 visitors from around Serbia and the world. During the Carnival of Vrnjci, noon was reserved for Games without borders, followed by performances of dance troupes presenting various music genres from hip hop and pop to traditional and folk music.
In the evening concerts of famous bands and musicians like “Riblja Čorba”, “Vampiri”, “Zemlja Gruva” (Groove land), Aca Lukas, the finalists of the reality shows “I have talent” and “First Voice of Serbia”, spiced up the carnival atmosphere.
Children’s Carnival Parade and Great International Carnival Parade attracted most attention.
The traditional Children’s Carnival Parade gathered around 1,200 kids from around Serbia who participated in 24 carnival companies. With kids’ songs and all dressed in cowboy, clown, princess, butterfly and cartoon characters costumes, children put smiles on people’s faces with their spontaneity and cute clumsy dancing.
However, the Great International Carnival Parade, the central event of the Carnival, attracted even more attention. The Parade gathered around 2,500 participants from Serbia, Malaysia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia…
Dancers in mostly hand-made glittering costumes, with feathers on their heads, passed the central promenade in Vrnjačka Banja, dancing in the rhythm of carnival music and leaving viewers breathless.
The Carnival of Vrnjci has become one of the most visited and largest events of its kind in Serbia. It is being held every year since 2005. It won the “Turistički cvet” (Tourist flower) award by the Tourist Organization of Serbia, and became the member of The Federation of European Carnival Cities (FECC), thus becoming an important carnival destination.
Despite its rather short history of seven years, the locals say that the carnival tradition exists in Vrnjačka Banja since 1868, when first balls, masked balls and different parties started being organized.