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Popular festival · Ribčev Laz
On the third Sunday of September, Bohinj celebrates the return of the shepherds and their cattle from the high mountain pastures: the cows descend, decorated with flowers, to the meadow at Ukanc on the western tip of Lake Bohinj, in a festival with music, dancing and regional food.
In the photo: Ribčev Laz
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Cow Ball of Bohinj — Ribčev Laz
On the third Sunday of September.
September
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
For centuries, Bohinj’s cattle spent the summer on the high pastures of the Julian Alps, where shepherds lived in huts and made cheese. At the end of summer the herds returned to the valley, and the cattle owners held a feast for the shepherds in the village taverns. Over time, villagers began joining the celebrations, which were moved to Ukanc, a small settlement on the western tip of Lake Bohinj.
The Cow Ball, the Kravji bal, has been organized by the Bohinj tourist association since 1954 and is considered the valley’s oldest event. It takes place on the third Sunday of September in a meadow at Ukanc, with the mountains of Triglav National Park as a backdrop.
The highlight is the cattle descent: shepherds in traditional dress lead cows adorned with flower crowns and bells, and carry on their backs the basenga, the wooden frame used to transport the utensils for life on the pasture and for making cheese. The parade passes in front of the crowd to the sound of accordion and brass band music.
After the parade the party continues on the meadow with folk music, dances, traditional games, presentations about shepherd life and stalls selling cheeses, cured meats and regional dishes.
It’s worth the trip to see a custom tied to alpine pastoral life in a valley of lake and mountains at the start of autumn, when the slopes around the lake begin to change color.
The descent of cows decorated with flowers and bells, led by shepherds carrying the basenga on their backs. Accordion and brass band music on the Ukanc meadow. The games and presentations about life on the pastures. Tasting Bohinj cheeses at the stalls.
Arrive early in Ukanc to secure a spot near the parade route, which takes place around midday. On festival days the road along the lake gets busy and parking in Ukanc is limited: use shuttle buses from Ribčev Laz when available. Bring a warm layer, a rain jacket and shoes for grass: the weather in September can change quickly in the mountains.
Bohinj cheeses and žganci with sour milk, plus other local specialties at the stalls.
Check the Bohinj tourism website for the year’s program, access and transport information. Book accommodation in Ribčev Laz, Stara Fužina or another village in the valley in advance; Bled, about a half hour away, is an alternative.
In the city
September
June/July/August/SeptemberDuring the summer, from June or July until the beginning of September.
Created in 1953, the Ljubljana Festival fills the capital’s summer with opera, ballet, symphony concerts, theater and folk music, in the Križanke courtyard, the former monastery remodeled by Jože Plečnik, and at Kongresni trg square.
SeptemberOn a weekend in early to mid-September, usually Friday through Sunday, with the big parade on Sunday.
Every September, Kamnik’s old town, at the foot of the Kamnik–Savinja Alps, hosts Slovenia’s largest ethnological festival, featuring parades of traditional costumes from all regions, music, dance and handicrafts.
September/OctoberOn a Sunday in late September or early October, when the grapes are ripe, after a few days of wine festivities in the Lent neighborhood.
Every early autumn, Maribor publicly harvests the grapes of the Stara trta, the more-than-400-year-old vine that grows on the facade of a house in the Lent neighborhood, concluding days of celebrations with Styrian wines and dishes by the Drava River.
Your questions
On the third Sunday of September, with the cattle parade taking place around midday.
In a meadow at Ukanc, a village on the western tip of Lake Bohinj in Triglav National Park, a few kilometers from Ribčev Laz.
It is the wooden frame that shepherds carry on their backs, used to transport the utensils for life on the pasture and for making cheese.
Festivals and events in Slovenia
February/MarchOn the days before Lent, in February or March depending on the date of Easter, ending on Shrove Tuesday. The duration varies according to the program.
Slovenia’s largest carnival takes over Ptuj’s old town: the kurenti, figures dressed in sheepskins with horned or feathered masks and large bells at the waist, parade alongside other traditional regional characters to drive away winter.
February/MarchOn the Sunday and Tuesday of Carnival, which fall between early February and early March according to the Easter calendar; the laufarji begin to appear in the streets on the preceding Sundays.
In Cerkno, in the hills of western Slovenia, the laufarji—figures wearing carved wooden masks—parade through town at Carnival and stage the trial and execution of the Pust, the moss-covered figure who carries the year’s misfortunes.
MarchIn March, from Thursday to Sunday, at the event that closes the Ski Jumping World Cup season.
Every March, the Planica valley, near Kranjska Gora, hosts the final stage of the Ski Jumping World Cup, held on the Gorišek Brothers’ flying hill, one of the largest in the world.
AprilOn a weekend in April, usually after Easter and before the May 1 public holiday.
For a weekend in April, the old town of Radovljica, near Bled, turns into a large chocolate showcase, with producers from across the country, tastings, workshops and demonstrations at Linhartov trg square and the town manor.
May/JuneFor about two weeks, from late May to early June, during the flowering season of Bohinj’s meadows.
In late spring, Bohinj, in the heart of Triglav National Park, devotes two weeks to the flowers of the Julian Alps, with guided botanical walks, exhibitions, workshops, and restaurant menus featuring wild plants from the valley.
JuneOn the third weekend of June, from Friday to Sunday.
On the third weekend of June, Idrija, the former mining town in western Slovenia, celebrates bobbin lace with exhibitions, fashion shows, workshops and the national contest for young lacemakers in the main square.