Pust

I love Pust. I loved it since I was a child. Me and my sister would run the village, dressed as clowns, witches, bees, gypsies, princesses, cave men, etc. and knocked on doors. Generally the rule is to stay quiet to keep your identity hidden, but I remember a year or two we even learned a song we sang in front of open doors as an exchange for candy.

At the end of the day we sat down, make-up smeared across our faces, wigs askew, robes messed up and look at our loot. Candy, donuts, oranges and some money.

While Pust may sound like Halloween it is a bit different. The tradition is to scare away the winter and to call on the spring. And yes, while kids do dress up as different characters and wear masks, we do have traditional masks depending on region of the country.

Kurent is a traditional mask. With their jumping and hopping they produce a lot of noise which should vanquish the winter and evil and call in the spring. Then we have the Cerkljanske masks, which are more comedian and Škoromate who burn the Pust at the end.

They each own their own traditions and quirks passed along time and people.

I love crafting my mask from scratch, my sister is no different … Pust is simply our favorite time of the year. Besides, donuts can be bought just for a few cents round this time too.