Kurent House
Discover the Kurent, Slovenia’s traditional carnival character, through interactive exhibits and modern technology at Kurent House in Ptuj.
Planning your visit
The Kurent is Slovenia's most striking carnival figure: a shaggy sheepskin-clad creature with a horned mask, long red tongue, and a belt of heavy cowbells that are shaken by leaping and running to drive away winter. Groups of Kurenti run through Ptuj and the surrounding villages during Kurentovanje, the pre-Lenten carnival, in a tradition UNESCO added to its intangible heritage list in 2017.
Kurent House presents that through interactive exhibits, masks, costumes and multimedia, covering the tradition's regional variants, its probable pre-Christian origins, and the craft of making the masks and bells, which is itself a specialist skill passed down within families.
Ptuj is Slovenia's oldest town, Roman in origin, with a castle above it and a well-preserved old centre, and the carnival is the year's major event.
Visiting outside carnival season, the museum is the way to encounter a tradition that is otherwise entirely seasonal. Allow an hour. Bookable options include guided city tours with museum entry. Current availability is shown below.
Before you book
Where is Kurent House?
Kurent House is in Ptuj, Slovenia.
How long should I allow for Kurent House?
Allow an hour. That is the time the collection itself takes at an unhurried pace, before any queue.
Do I need to book Kurent House in advance?
Guided tours run to a fixed schedule and small group sizes, so they are usually booked ahead.