At its session held on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, on Thursday, 7 December 2017, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage inscribed the second Slovenian nomination, Door-to-door Rounds of Kurenti, on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Slovenia ratified UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008, when the national Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Slovenia also began to be established. The element Door-to-door Rounds of Kurenti was entered into the Register in 2012 as its sixth element and was proclaimed intangible cultural heritage of national importance in 2015. In 2016, the Republic of Slovenia submitted the nomination Door-to-door Rounds of Kurenti for inscription on UNESCO’s Representative List. The Evaluation Body of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee recognised the nomination as exemplary in its preparation.

The nomination was prepared with the participation of representatives of the bearers (associations and the Federation of Kurent Associations), the Scientific Research Centre Bistra Ptuj, the Ptuj-Ormož Regional Museum, the Slovene Ethnographic Museum as the Coordinator for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, and the Ministry of Culture.

The Door-to-door Rounds of Kurenti are a Shrovetide custom practised in the regions of Ptuj and the Drava Plain, as well as in Haloze and the Slovenske Gorice hills. The Kurent is the most widespread traditional Shrovetide figure and, according to folk belief, drives away evil and brings happiness and prosperity.