International Shrovetide Parade Culminats Ptuj Carnival

Ptuj, 25 February - This year's 40th Shrovetide festival in Ptuj, NE Slovenia, ended on Sunday with an international parade which featured over 60 carnival groups, 450 'kurenti', the mythical creatures that drive away the winter, 500 ethnographical masks, 200 primary-school children in costumes and over 400 other masks. They were also joined by masks from Bulgaria, Italy and Croatia.