St. Blasius Festival in Dubrovnik

Saint Blaise is the patron of Dubrovnik, and the holiday celebration is starting 3rd of February every year. It lasts from solemnity to the first Sunday following, and is held in accordance with centuries-old tradition. Saint Blaise is revered as a patron of sick people, a festival in his honor for Dubrovnik means a special expression of their centuries-old religion. The traditional celebration begins with the Eucharistic Mass, and after Mass, is followed by a procession that begins in the early morning hours. St. Blaise’s Festival in Dubrovnik

At the start of the procession Dubrovnik bishop releases a white dove in the presence of local visitors and tourists. You should not miss this event if you are in Dubrovnik at this time.

Then, the flags are brought from the Dubrovnik parishes and are situated in front of the church of St. Blaise, where they welcome the people and the church.

The next part of the procession is “grličanje“ , the people are called into the church at this ritual which is performed by placing the two overlapping candles under heads of the believers, and is believed to be this way to protect throat from disease.

One of the most interesting parts of the ceremony is game of tombola. This game is the public, and it is played by a great number of people. The person on the board shows the numbers that have arisen, and this is very thankless job, because the part of the younger players and often older shoot him with the wild oranges, which is not an innocent. This game takes place in the afternoon on the day of celebration. Dubrovnik city walls and public buildings are decorated with sculptures of St. Blaise.

In the days of Festival St. Blaise in Dubrovnik Theatre held a variety of shows, you can see various exhibitions in Dubrovnik museums, and even participate in numerous cultural and entertainment events in this period.