Kurents on Saint Clair

 Piast, a Polish dance troupe, marching before Kurenti

 Two Kurenti in the ballroom of the Slovenian Home, St. Clair Avenue Cleveland Ohio

Polka is fun, Chardon Polka Band on stage, hideous mirror ball suspended from ceiling

Cleveland had their fourth Kurentovanje on the last Saturday before Lent. The day began with a new route for the parade. The units were fewer in number and tightly jammed together. There was a goal to have only a short interruption of traffic on the avenue. The neighborhood is not booming, there is a movement to arrest the decline and add some cachet. This new festival is part of that. 

The Kurentovanje is a Slovene pre-Lenten folk carnival. Kurenti (plural), Kurent (singular) dress in sheepskins and a headdress of ribbons. They are there to chase away the winter.

I sometimes see annual events again, here is the parade two years ago [click].