Rijeka Carnival, the great parade
- Date
- 7 February 2027
- Venue
- Korzo, Rijeka
Programme and detailsOfficial information and ticketsAdd to calendar
Eleven thousand masks in a hundred groups down one street, and bell-ringers on the UNESCO list. The 2027 season opens on 17 January, and the international parade rolls on Sunday 7 February, by custom at noon.
Checked: 10 October 2026, 14:31
Rijeka calls its carnival the fifth season, and the city lives up to the name: it runs a programme from mid January to the start of Lent, and the whole winter identity of the place hangs on it. The tradition in its present form is over forty years old. For the 2026 international parade the organisers announced around 11,000 masks and zvončari in a hundred groups (Novi list).
The dates for 2027
| Event | 2027 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Season opens: St Anthony's day, the Pust is raised | Sun 17.1. | Sat 17.1. |
| City key handed to the carnival master, Korzo | January programme | Sat 17.1., 12:00 |
| Carnival queen election, Dvorana mladosti | January programme | Fri 23.1., 20:00 |
| Children's parade, city centre | January programme | Sat 31.1., 12:00 |
| International parade, Korzo | Sun 7.2., 12:00 | Sun 15.2., 12:00 |
| Ash Wednesday, carnival ends | Wed 10.2. | Wed 18.2. |
The international parade on the Sunday is the one people travel for. By custom it starts at noon, and the city changes shape for the day: traffic is diverted, the car parks along the Riva close and public transport runs on a special plan. Arrive by bus or train, or leave the car outside the centre and walk in. Everything else in the programme, the balls, the runs, the concerts, sits between St Anthony's day and Ash Wednesday.
From the key to the children's parade
In 2026 the season opened on Saturday 17 January. In Pehlin, Pašac and Zamet the traditional groups raised the Pust, the carnival figure that stands until Ash Wednesday, and at noon the mayor handed the city key to the carnival master on the Korzo, with a parade of the flags of every group. The 29th queen was chosen on Friday 23 January in the Dvorana mladosti, where candidates from carnival groups across the county compete for the Golden Cloak with wit, dance and song. Thousands of children from kindergartens and schools across Croatia filled the centre for the children's parade on Saturday 31 January, and every Friday of the season the Dom Pašac held its masked dances (City of Rijeka programme).
The programme reaches well beyond the parades. In 2026 the masked boccia tournament opened the season on 18 January, the Veseli oldtimeri society held its Crinoline Night, a costume ball, on the Marina boat on 24 January, and snowboarders competed in the Carnival Snowboard Session on Platak, the ski slope above Rijeka, on 1 February (City of Rijeka programme).
The bell-ringers
The zvončari give this carnival its sound. They come from the villages around Kastav and Viškovo, they wear sheepskins and animal masks, and they carry heavy bells on their backs which they swing in step until the sound fills a whole street. The custom is far older than the modern carnival, and since 2009 the bell-ringers' pageant of the Kastav area has been on UNESCO's list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity (UNESCO). If you see one group in the parade, you have seen the reason the whole thing exists.
Where to stand
The parade runs along the Korzo, the pedestrian spine of the centre, and takes several hours to pass. The middle of the Korzo fills first and stays packed; the two ends thin out and still show you every group, because every group walks the whole route. Arriving an hour early gets you a place at the front of the barrier. Rijeka in February is around eight to ten degrees and often wet, so the practical advice is the boring kind: layers and a waterproof, since you will be standing still.
About the event
Rijeka Carnival, the great parade
Croatia's largest carnival parade fills the Korzo for hours. The date follows Easter: in 2027 Ash Wednesday is 10 February, so the parade is on Sunday 7 February.
The carnival programme around the parade
The parade on Sunday 7 February 2027 is the season's finale and by custom starts at noon. The season opens on 17 January, and the official programme with the queen election and the children's parade appears each January. For the 2026 parade the organisers announced around 11,000 masks and zvončari in 100 groups. Every group walks the full route, so the thinner ends of the street show you all of them. The groups to wait for are the zvončari, bell-ringers from the villages around Kastav and Viškovo, in sheepskins and animal masks, swinging heavy bells on their backs, a custom older than the carnival and on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage.
Getting to Rijeka
The nearest airport is Rijeka Airport on the island of Krk, about 30 km from the centre across the Krk bridge, with an airport bus into town. In February the schedule there is thin, so most long-haul visitors fly to Zagreb and continue by road, about 160 km on the A6 motorway and around 2 hours by bus. Rijeka is also the end of the railway from Zagreb, about 4 hours, and the station is a short walk west of the Korzo. The bus station stands beside the Capuchin church, a few minutes from the parade route. On parade day parking is banned across the centre, so leave a car outside it and take a town bus in.
| From | How | In words |
|---|---|---|
| Zagreb | Bus or train | About 160 km, bus around 2 hours, train about 4 hours |
| Rijeka Airport, Krk | Airport bus or taxi | About 30 km, few flights in winter |
| Trieste | Bus or car | About 75 km through Slovenia |
| Ljubljana | Bus or car | About 115 km, roughly 2 hours |
| Opatija | Town bus | About 15 km along the coast, no parking problem on parade day |
Where to stay
Stay within walking distance of the Korzo and parade day looks after itself: the centre between the railway station and the Rječina, Sušak on the east bank of the river, or Trsat on the hill above, reached by the stairs or a town bus. Pećine, east along the shore, is a district of old villas with apartments to rent and a shore promenade of about 20 minutes into the centre. Opatija, 15 km west, holds the larger hotels of the region. The parade weekend is the busiest of the Rijeka winter and rooms in the centre go months ahead, so book in autumn.
The rest of the weekend
The parade fills the Sunday, so the Saturday is for the town. Climb the Petar Kružić stairs from the river to Trsat, 561 steps and about 20 minutes, and go on to Trsat Castle, where the ramparts show the Kvarner gulf and the island of Krk for a cheap ticket and half an hour. The shrine of Our Lady of Trsat next door keeps a chapel of seamen's votive paintings and ship models. Back in the centre, the passage under the City Tower leads into the old town with the Roman arch, the Leaning Tower of 1377 and the round cathedral of St Vitus, all free and done in an hour.
For a wet morning, the Benčić quarter is 20 minutes on foot from the Korzo. The City Museum of Rijeka in the Sugar Refinery Palace gives the carnival its own place in the permanent display, beside the port, shipbuilding and the town divided between Rijeka and Sušak after 1924. The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art works in the next hall on the same ticket, and the Children's House runs workshops in the afternoon.
Where to eat
Start the parade day at the Placa, the market pavilions by the harbour a few steps from the Korzo, which open early. The Korzo terraces work all year, but on the Sunday every seat is taken well before the first group appears. For a proper meal use the lanes of the old town behind the City Tower, or Sušak across the Rječina, where small restaurants serve Kvarner fish, scampi and pasta away from the crush. Book a table for Saturday evening, and on the Sunday eat before the parade or late, with something in your pocket for the hours at the barrier.
Practical notes for February
Rijeka in February sits around 8 to 10 degrees and is often wet, and the bora can blow hard off the mountains. You will stand still for hours, so bring a waterproof, layers and shoes that grip wet stone, and arrive an hour before the start if you want the front of the barrier. Croatia uses the euro and cards work almost everywhere, but carnival stalls and small bars go faster with cash. Watching from the street costs nothing. Families with small children have the children's parade a week earlier as the calmer option, and on the Sunday both ends of the Korzo are easier with a pushchair than the middle.
Frequently asked questions
- When is the Rijeka Carnival parade in 2027?
- The international parade is on Sunday 7 February 2027, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, and by custom it starts at noon. The children's parade and the queen election appear in the official programme each January; in 2026 they fell on 31 and 23 January.
- What are the zvončari?
- Bell-ringers from the villages around Kastav and Viškovo who wear sheepskins and animal masks and carry heavy bells on their backs. The custom predates the modern carnival and is on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.
- How do you get into Rijeka on parade day?
- By bus or train, or on foot from a car park outside the centre. On the day of the international parade traffic is diverted, the car parks along the Riva close and public transport runs on a special plan.
Official sources
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