Visitors will be able to choose from a variety of performances, exhibition, concerts, lectures, guided tours and workshops as part of the national campaign aimed at promoting culture.

This year, the Slovenian community living in Italy's Basovizza near Trieste and Opicina will join in the celebrations.

National cultural institutions welcome visitors admission-free every first Sunday each month, on Culture Day (8 February), World Museum Day (18 May) and Museum Summer Night, but on Merry Day of Culture not only museums and galleries open their doors but also theatres, libraries, archives and numerous other institutions and organisations.

The list of institutions and events organised in each town is available on the web site of the Culture Ministry.

This is the 17th year that the campaign is being organised. Last year, a total of 380 events were held in 61 towns. This year, the number of participating institutions is slightly lower probably because many of them are closed on Saturdays, the ministry said.

Some 30,000 people usually visit the admission-free events.

Born on 3 December, Prešeren (1800-1849), a poet of the Romantic era, is considered Slovenia's greatest poet.

The stanza of his "Zdravljica" (Toast) which calls for the brotherhood and freedom of all peoples has been adopted as the Slovenian national anthem.