Velenje is not only home to Slovenia's only active mine and the household appliances and consumer electronics maker Gorenje, now owned by the Chinese, but also hosts the biggest children's festival in the country when Pippi Longstocking takes the reins.

Named after the cheeky children's book character, the Pippi Festival is taking place for the 35th year running and remains as popular as ever, drawing children and families from across Slovenia to what is the country's sixth largest city.

Held every September soon after the start of a new school year, this year the festival opened on 7 September as Pippi took over from the mayor for a week. The official Pippi, that is, because there are hundreds of them at the festival, both among the visitors and those who make sure children have fun.

Talking with the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), the official Pika character, as Pippi is called in Slovenia, says she could hardly wait to become the mayor to let children be free from kindergarten and school for the time being.

The theme of this year's festival being Paint the World Green, she set out on a special mission - to teach all children and their parents to be more environmentally responsible. "At the end of the festival, everyone will know what bin to throw their banana peel in, where the styrofoam should end up and where the paper plate dirty with pancakes."

Velenje's special relationship with Pippi

Velenje's special relationship with Pippi goes back to 1985 when the author, musician and culture worker Marjan Marinšek, who was a friend of Pippi's author Astrid Lindgren and translated her books, put on an exhibition on the character to mark the 40th anniversary since the first Pippi book was published.

Marinšek was also one of the founders and the first director of the Pippi Festival, which at first only lasted for a day, the festival's current director, Barbara Pokorny, says.

Held at three main venues, Tito's Square, Red Arena and the city's main playground, but spilling all over the city, the festival will have seen more than 100 creative workshops and over 200 performances by the time it closes on 13 September.

Apart from families, the festival has been attracting organised groups of children every year, hosting over 30 bus-loads of young visitors a day, Pokorny says. They organise a special programme for them, taking in a gallery exhibition, a theatre show, a visit to one of the 12 theme activity areas and to workshops. There are also plenty of sport activities and many other surprises.

Some 40 members of the organising team, as well as 300 secondary school students and 160 uni students are involved in the event to make sure everything runs smoothly.

The festival celebrates the creativity of children and families, bringing the whole city to life and connecting all the generations. One of its ambassadors is Janja Garnbret, the Olympic sport climbing champion, who was cheered by hundreds of children as she visited the festival on 10 September.

Although she has not competed with Pippi yet, she agreed that she and Pippi may well be the strongest girls on earth. She also said that she would like to compete at the Los Angeles Games in 2028, although much could still happen by then. Many believe though that she could well aim for a third successive gold.

Macaroni seeds and pine tomatoes

One of the outdoor features is a special garden where at the time of the STA's visit the hatted host, Petra the gardener, entertained children and adults trying to sell them macaroni seeds and mega mosquitoes.

Her greenhouse contained all sorts of strange things, from pine tomatoes and turbo red snails to worms that you can put in your salad. Her garden also featured an elevated garden bed and a mud kitchen for children to create in, a hen house displaying eggs of various birds, including ostriches, an insect hotel and a special area dedicated to honey.

Back in Red Arena, a large sports hall painted red, a member of the festival team called Mia explains she is responsible for the area with 22 interactive tasks. It was put up in cooperation with Tombs Creatius Company, a team from Catalonia.

The Velenje Museum has mounted an exhibition From Black to White. The entrance is like entering a mine, and then there is a model of a submerged village under the Družmir Lake, which emerged due to mining. The final part of the exhibition showcases modern sustainable energy technologies that Velenje will have to adopt soon as both the mine and the thermal plant it feeds will soon be shut down.

Animator Klea says the most popular activity under her guard is the colouring game, while the youngest ones like catching fish. For those a little older, the tasks are more complex, stimulating children's thinking skills, and parents like them too.

Sofija, a nine-year-old girl, says she likes the wooden toys with marbles the most, but she also finds the activities in Tito Square great fun. Seven-year-old Zara enjoys creating things out of clay, as well as the playground where you can "jump a little, walk a little".

Seven-year-old David likes the name that he was given at the garden patch, the Spiky Doogwood, while Urška, an adult from Žalec, says she has been coming to the festival with her two children for many years, and this time they came to "make the most of this beautiful day".