As a kick-off to the festivities, President Borut Pahor and Education, Science, Culture and Sport Minister Žiga Turk will lay a wreath at Prešeren's monument in one of Ljubljana's main squares in the morning.

At noon, Slovenian theatre actors will read Prešeren's poems in front of the monument, while the main ceremony of the day will take place in the poet's birth village Vrba in the NW Slovenia at 1 PM.

A state ceremony marking the culture holiday was held on Thursday evening, along with the conferral of the Prešeren Prizes, the highest awards Slovenia for contributions in culture.

Giving the holiday a social and political note, a two-day protest cultural festival will continue from Thursday and expand into the third all-Slovenian uprising against political elites.

Countering the protests, the right-leaning outfit Assembly for the Republic will also hold a rally in the capital, which will be addressed by Prime Minister Janez Janša.