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Popular festival · Postojna
Between Christmas and the end of the year, Postojna Cave stages a live nativity along the underground route, with actors, singers and musicians presenting biblical scenes among stalactites and illuminated halls.
In the photo: Postojna
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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Live Nativity at Postojna Cave — Postojna
From December 25 to 30.
December
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
Postojna Cave, in the Slovenian Karst, is one of Europe’s major show caves, with a route of several kilometers partly covered by a small tourist train and partly on foot, among stalactites, stalagmites and large chambers. It has welcomed visitors for more than two centuries, and in the days between Christmas and New Year it becomes the setting for a live nativity.
The nativity was staged for the first time in 1989 and was one of Slovenia’s earliest live nativities. Over the years it has gained new directors, costumes, music and lighting, and has become an end-of-year spectacle mentioned by the international press among the world’s most distinctive Christmas performances.
Along the tourist route, actors, singers and musicians present a sequence of biblical scenes, from the Old Testament to the birth of Jesus, each set at a different point in the cave. Visitors follow the path from scene to scene, among the illuminated rock formations, and the visit finishes in the cave’s concert hall.
On the esplanade in front of the entrance, a Christmas market offers crafts, food and hot drinks during the nativity days.
It’s worth the trip to see a Christmas performance inside a cave, and you can combine the visit with Predjama Castle, a few kilometers away, and with the Slovenian Karst.
The biblical scenes presented along the underground route. The little tourist train ride inside the cave. The concert hall at the end of the route. The Christmas market on the entrance esplanade. A visit to Predjama Castle, built at the mouth of another cave.
Shows depart at scheduled times throughout the day; choose one of the earlier ones to avoid queues. Inside the cave the temperature is around 10 °C year-round, and there are wet and slippery sections: bring a warm layer and closed shoes with non-slip soles. The visit lasts about an hour and a half. Postojna has a train station on the Ljubljana–coast line, and the cave is about 1.5 km from the town center.
Buy tickets in advance on the cave’s website, because shows sell out on the busiest days. Book accommodation in Postojna or make the visit as a day trip from Ljubljana, about an hour away.
In the city
December
Your questions
From December 25 to 30, with shows throughout the day.
About an hour and a half, following the underground route from scene to scene, partly by tourist train and partly on foot.
A warm layer and closed shoes with non-slip soles: inside the cave the temperature is around 10 °C year-round, and the floor can be wet.
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.
