Lopar Masquerade

THE MASQUERADE TRADITION OVER TWO CENTURIES LONG

The masquerade tradition in Lopar goes back to almost a century and a half to two centuries. In the past, only single men participated i the masquerade, but today you will see married men, fathers and sons participating.

LOPAR MASQUERADE (LOPARSKI MAŠKARI) LISTED AMONG THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Lopar masquerade (Loparski maškari) has been recently listed among the intangible cultural heritage, indicating the significance of this unique historical, cultural and ethnographic tradition for Lopar and the entire Island of Rab.

THE MASQUERADE WAS ORGANISED IN THE PAST TO WARD OFF EVIL SPIRITS AND TODAY IT FOSTERS LOCAL TRADITION

The original purpose of the masquerade was to ward off evil spirits, while today it fosters local tradition and customs through the fellowship of the entire community. They represent a sort of a colorful traditional event with the participation of all the inhabitants of the towns and villages divided since ancient times to Samorčani (the inhabitants of the areas to the north of the centre of Lopar, the so-called vazmorac) and Sajužani (the inhabitants of the areas in the south of Lopar, the so-called vazjugo).

THE UNIFIED DRESS CODE OF THE MASQUERADE

The Lopar masquerade has a unified dress code with the participants wearing white trousers and white shirts, ties, black robes and shoes, waist bells, iron rod sticks, face masks and unique lush colorful hats.

THE LUSH HAT (KLOBUK) IS A STORY IN ITSELF

The traditional carnival hat (klobuk) is the central element of the Lopar masquerade. Its creation requires a lot of patience and the hat itself is made using cardboard pattern stencils, with the love topic images glued to the front and the back of the hat, usually containing the images of naked women. The painted hen or rooster feathers are glued to the front of the hat and the lush peacock feathers are glued to the back of the hat. On the back of the hat (diža) the so-called French scarf (facol, kurdelice) is placed. It was named after the scarves that were not easily available, brought by sailors from distant countries where they went in search of a job.

TOUR OF THE TOWN WITH A DRINK AND MUSIC

The Lopar masquerade starts with a tour of the town and the raising of the flags a day before the carnival (mesopust). Samorčani raise their flag on Mel and Sajužani raise their own flag on Mućel. On the masquerade day, in the morning, all the groups gather around their flags and proceed with the tour of the town towards the centre of Lopar. They visit people's homes as a symbol of respect towards the hosts and the hosts welcome them with traditional dishes and drinks they prepared. Each visit is accompanied by singing and the common masquerade customs.