While the day when according to tradition must turns into wine was officially marked at the biggest event - the 33rd Martin's Festival in Maribor on Friday, events will take place all around the country.

St. Martin's Day, dedicated to the patron saint of wine, was traditionally a time when people in the countryside started putting away farming tools and started preparing for the long winter nights.

However, traditional ceremonies have over decades turned into parties enthralling wine lovers from villages and cities alike.

Most of the traditional events will take place in wine-growing regions of Štajersko, Primorsko, Dolenjsko and Prekmurje, but Ljubljana, which got its own vineyard on the Castle Hill this year, and Kranj will also organise various events that traditionally attract thousands of people.

A major ceremony will be held in Ptuj, where Martinovanje, as festivities around St. Martin's Day are called, is considered the beginning of preparations for Kurentovanje, the traditional Shrovetide celebration, which takes place in late winter.

In the south-western region of Primorsko, cellars of abandoned houses in the ancient village of Šmartno will be used for stands offering the wines of over 30 winemakers from the region. Other traditional festivities in the region include the week-long Martinovanje organised by wine company Vina Koper and an event in Marezige.

In Dolenjsko, a walk will be organised taking visitors among the regionally well-known, even notorious zidanice - small vineyard cellars.

Ljubljana will organise a wine route, with stalls offering wines from across the country enticing passers-by, while in Kranj, the capital of the mountainous Gorenjsko region, stalls will be placed in the tunnels beneath the old city.

Despite all the festivities, wine lovers can get the most authentic experience of Martinovo in small wine cellars, wineries and the zidanice, surrounded by friends.