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Carnival celebrations will culminate at the first weekend in March ahead of Shrove Tuesday, but in some places such as Ptuj carnival figures will start their rounds well before that.

The carnival capital of Slovenia, known for its sheepskin-clad figures Kurent, Ptuj traditionally switches to Shrovetide time on Candlemas, a Christian holiday celebrated on 2 February.

This is when several hundred Kurents gather around the fire at the homestead of the 2nd Prince of the Carnival in the village of Budina. At midnight, the first Kurent jumps up to ring his huge cowbells, followed by the rest. Only then can they begin their door-to-door rounds, a custom included in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

The 65th Kurentovanje, the biggest carnival festival in the country, will officially take place in Ptuj, Slovenia's oldest town, from 22 February to 4 March.

The opening parade on 22 February is expected to attract some 2,300 traditional masks, while the international carnival on 2 March will bring together some 2,900 participants from nine countries. In all, the festival will feature more than 6,800 performers.

It will also see more than 30 accompanying events, including the Ex Tempore arts award, which attracts artists from several countries, and a children's carnival on 3 March.

Carnival revelry in Cerknica, in south-central Slovenia, will start on 27 February as the Butalci, the big-headed but slow-witted characters meant as a caricature of Slovenians, replace the mayor at a ceremony known as "the sawing of the old woman".

The highlight will be the carnival on Shrove Sunday, 2 March, which draws on the local mythology of witches from Mount Slivnica and monsters from Lake Cerknica. Apart from Uršula the Witch and Jezerko the Dragon, the procession will also feature a new figure of a giant bear along with bees.

The festivities in Cerknica will wrap up with the burial of Pust (Shrove man) on Ash Wednesday, 5 March.

Another traditional carnival event will be held in Cerkno in the west of the country on Shrove Sunday, featuring a cast of 25 different costumed characters and a mock trial in which a moss covered figure called Pust is sentenced to death for everyone's sins.

The figures are known as the Laufarji or Runners, named so after the figure who is always running around. In the run-up to the festival, they make their rounds in Cerkno and nearby villages with good wishes for health and an abundant harvest.

Traditional masks as well as other costumed figures and floats, often satirising topical events and figures, will make their appearance at the Dragon Carnival in the capital Ljubljana and the Istrian Carnival in the port town of Koper on 1 March. In fact most of the country will join the revelry in one way or another.