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Culture · Ribčev Laz
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.
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.
Click a photo to enlarge it.
International Wildflower Festival of Bohinj — Ribčev Laz
For about two weeks, from late May to early June, during the flowering season of Bohinj’s meadows.
May/June
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
Bohinj is the glacial valley surrounding the lake of the same name, in Triglav National Park, in the Julian Alps. The region’s meadows and mountains host a varied alpine flora, studied since the first botanists who explored the eastern Alps, and the flowering season, between May and June, covers the meadows in color.
The wildflower festival began in 2007, initiated by the local community and Bohinj tourism in partnership with Triglav National Park. It was one of the first festivals of this kind in Europe and became an annual spring event for the valley.
The program brings together guided walks led by botanists and park guides through the meadows, lakeshores and slopes, art and herbarium exhibitions, crafts and wild-plant cooking workshops, lectures, and performances of music and local traditions. Bohinj restaurants prepare menus with local flowers and herbs. Activities take place in the valley’s various villages, around the lake and in Ribčev Laz.
The festival also teaches how to respect the flora: flowers are viewed and photographed where they grow, without picking, and many species are protected.
It’s worth the trip for those who enjoy hiking and nature: it’s the time when the meadows are usually in bloom, before the summer crowds, with walks that help you learn about the valley’s flora.
Guided botanical walks through the flowering meadows around Lake Bohinj. Hikes along the slopes with guides from Triglav National Park. Exhibitions and workshops in the valley villages. Menus featuring wild flowers and herbs in the region’s restaurants.
Check the program before you go and sign up for guided walks, which have limited places. Bring hiking shoes, layered clothing and a rain jacket: in late spring, weather in the Alps changes quickly. Ribčev Laz, at the eastern tip of the lake, houses the information center and is the starting point for several walks; the valley has bus connections between villages. Do not pick flowers: many species are protected.
Dishes and desserts prepared with wild flowers and herbs in Bohinj restaurants, according to the festival menus.
See the Bohinj tourism website for the dates and program for the year and book walks in advance. For accommodation, there are options in Ribčev Laz, Stara Fužina and the valley’s other villages, as well as in Bled, about half an hour away.
In the city
May/June
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.
June/JulyFor a few days in June or July; dates vary each year.
Founded in 1960, the Ljubljana Jazz Festival is the oldest continuously running jazz festival in Europe: for a few days at the start of summer it brings together Slovenian and international musicians at Cankarjev dom and at the Križanke outdoor theatre.
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.
Your questions
For about two weeks, from late May to early June, during the flowering season of the valley meadows. Bohinj tourism publishes the schedule for each edition.
Guided botanical walks usually have limited places and require prior registration. Check the program before you go.
No. The valley is inside Triglav National Park and many species are protected: flowers should be viewed and photographed where they grow.
Festivals and events in Slovenia
June/JulyFor about nine days, beginning in late June and ending in early July.
At the start of summer, the Lent neighborhood, the old bank of the Drava in Maribor, and the central squares host Slovenia’s largest outdoor festival, with concerts on downtown stages, folklore, street theatre, and children’s programming.
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.
JulyOn a weekend in mid-July, usually from Thursday or Friday to Sunday.
Since 1964, the small town of Laško, on the banks of the Savinja River, celebrates its beer and its flowers in July, with concerts on several stages in the town center, a parade of decorated floats, marching bands and fireworks over the river.