My first visit to Rijeka in 2014 was a stopover between Italy and a resort town on Kvarner’s coast. My second visit was longer, exuberant and somewhat exhausting. The difference was karneval. Riječki karneval begins in winter and ends with spring. It is sometimes called the fifth season. My 2019 karneval adventures were supported by colleagues, family and the Croatian Consulate in Chicago where I live. I am connected to Rijeka via a small town on Kvarner’s Adriatic coast called Moščenićka Draga. It is where my maternal grandfather grew up. I recently learned that he worked briefly in Rijeka’s Torpedo factory before immigrating to the US around 1920.
My interest in Riječki karneval is also recent. While studying Croatian language and culture in the summer of 2018, I became fascinated with an article by anthropologist Ivan Loziča titled, ‘Carnival: A Short History of Carnival Customs and Their Social Functions.’ The article was first delivered as a lecture in Moščenićka Draga. I took this as a sign to dig deeper, see karneval and explore Rijeka.
