Korant’s rituals

Korant’s rituals as well as Koranti themselves represent the most popular ethnographic Shrovetide figure which, every year from Candlemass to Ash Wednesday, perform their door-to-door rounds in towns and villages. Whether Korant is of pagan, Slavic, maybe even Greek or any other origin is still not known. The first known bearers and performers of the heritage were from the rural origin; since the 19th century, due to the general move of people towards urban areas, the bearers have been coming also from towns. According to ancient tradition, grand-fathers would transmit their knowledge to their sons and grand-sons, for only men were able to gather enough strength and efforts to wear the heavy Korant’s attire and combat evil. In the past, men would make their own attires at home using anything that was available on the farm. Nowadays, Korant’s attires are fashioned by local master craftsmen. A special role is held by women and girls who are responsible for decoration (woollen socks, painting of leather face masks, embroidering handkerchiefs). Children are actively included in all activities concerning the performance and preservation of the door-to-door rounds of Kurenti. Kurent is a collective masked figure and, normally, individuals gather to form ethnographic groups, others found associations.