Rijeka Carnival is one of the largest in Europe and in the world. It has a more than hundred years old tradition, and since 1982 its costumed parade is being held. Over the recent years, the parade has had more than 10,000 participants, organized into more than 100 groups and more than 100,000 visitors, watching and participating. The groups come from both Croatia and Europe, and the themes of their masks are both traditional and modern. The participants often mock popular people and politicians. There is also a special group called Halubaj bell ringers whose members wear animal masks. One can say that the Rijeka Carnival is a sort of mixture of Venetian and Austrian carnivals, folklore elements and old Slavic mythology. Rijeka Carnival is listed among the 500 most important events in Europe. It is a series of events culminating in a carnival parade of masked participants, always taking place on Sunday before Ash Wednesday (Christian holiday taking place 40 days before Easter). For more information about the carnival, visit this page: http://www.rijecki-karneval.hr/en/

photo: Grad Rijeka, Turistička zajednica grada Rijeke, Rijeka Danas (Lario Tus), video: Moja Rijeka