On the 30th of November, Ljubljana switched-on its famous festive lights. The city’s Christmas lights display, resembling images of the universe taken by NASA, is every year developed in new directions as an ongoing project by local artist Zmago Modic. The elements from previous years are this year upgraded.
THOSE NEVER ENDING LIGHTS
The Old Town’s centre will be crisscrossed with 50 km of festive lights, 800 light objects, and 50 lampions, made by Ljubljana’s elementary school pupils, that will decorate Zvezda Park trees. The ceremony of switching-on the lights consisted of the simultaneous lightening up of the whole display floating above the city centre, and particularly above the December’s centre of the city’s social life – the Festive Fair.
That fair, yes
The Festive Fair, that traditionally cheers up Ljubljana and its visitors with mulled wine, aromatic tea, and roasted chestnut smells, becomes the centre of the social happening for the whole month of December. Fifty festively decorated stalls offer perfect business gifts like gloves, mittens, hats, scarves, various fashion accessories, local arts and crafts products, and traditional Slovenian delights like honey, schnapps, and diverse sweet treats.
This year, the Festive Fair will be held also inside the courtyard of the Ljubljana Castle. In accordance with the sustainable orientation of Ljubljana, all of the caterers in the Festive Fair will be using sustainable packaging made of paper, wood, or of other biodegradable materials.
life-size nativity scenes
Two life-size straw-made nativity scenes will be on display until the 6th of January. On the Breg embankment, there is a unique and hand-made work of an amateur artist Anton Kravanja, while in the Ljubljana Castle’s courtyard nativity scene of Miro Rismond will delight visitors.
There will also be a Christmas concert in front of the Town Hall, street theatre groups, diverse concerts on Ljubljana’s squares, and, of course, the Open-air New Year’s Eve celebrations with a 5-minute fireworks display.
Christmas trees
There will be several, but the biggest one is the one at the central Prešeren square. It is 18 meters high, it weighs 4 tons, and it is decorated with around 10 kilometers of lights. Besides this tree, there will be eight more decorated Christmas trees in Slovenia’s capital.
the land of ice … and dragons
Fairy-tale images created from a crystalline ice and snow mix formed by famous Slovenian and foreign artists are exhibited in a large hall cooled to -4 ℃. Dragons are the theme of this year’s exhibition.
Each year, the Land of Ice is based on a fairy tale. This year, the organizers chose Dragons are on the Way by the Austrian writer Niko Kupper, a tale about the dragon of Klagenfurt who suddenly comes to life. An important part of his story is taking place in Ljubljana, the city whose symbol is a dragon.
So … any congress guest to Ljubljana in December, should be aware of the possibility of being enchanted by bearded man and by crystal cold dragons wondering around shining streets, under colourful trees, and among party people on New Year’s Eve … Yup, the winter has finally come.
