A club- and beer-wielding Kurent tries to scare away winter at Cleveland Kurentovanje.
Photo credit: Cleveland Kurentovanje
In Cleveland, Spring Comes in Like a Slovenian Sheep Monster
Cleveland’s Kurentovanje festival reflects the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood’s immigrant heritage, and its hopes for rebirth.
A Kurent is usually heard before it’s seen — and that’s probably a good thing.
Part wearable taxidermy, part child’s nightmare, Kurenti are mythical monsters from Slovenian folklore, tasked with scaring away winter and general evil. They dress for the job: The costume consists of a shaggy sheepskin suit affixed with a chain belt hung with clanking brass cowbells, heavy black boots, and a leather mask with a pointy nose and a long, red tongue. A towering sheepskin headpiece affixed with cow horns or sticks covered in feathers and ribbons completes the ensemble.