The Rijeka Carnival has crowned a new Queen at the Dvorana Mladosti Sports Hall. Nora Marčelja from the Kunpanija z Halubja Carnival Society will proudly reign for the next year. The Carnival Master Sandi has a new Queen and the keys to the city, which were handed to him by Mayor Marko Filipović for safe keeping, thus officially kicking off the fifth season!
Six candidates faced off at the packed Dvorana Mladosti, with the jury having the final say on which was the best versed in carnival tradition and graced with the most charm, wit and dance prowess. The carnival jury comprised the following members: Sara Đukić, 2024 Rijeka Carnival Queen, Nikolina Bendra, representative of Erste & Steiermärkische Bank d.d., Zoran Jukić, representative of Spar Croatia, Vedrana Petrović, representative of Zagrebačka Pivovara, Josip Silov, Senator of the Federation of European Carnival Cities,Maja Stepančić, President of the Rijeka Carnival Association, Vladimir Butković, Honorary President of the Croatian Carnival Association, Irena Radovanović, initiator of the Costumed Klapa Marathon and Edo Ciceran, carnival-goer.
Apart from Nora Marčelja, the jury was charmed by Petra Zaharija and Dea Borovac, the first and second runners-up from the Grobničke Štrige and Špažićari Kostrena carnival groups, respectively. The carnival groups accompanied their candidates in the quest for the title of this year’s Rijeka Carnival Queen, while the Čiket Rijeka Carnival Group won the award for best carnival performance.
Josip Krmpotić, Robert Ferlin and Barbara Udovičić Papeš seamlessly guided the audience through the “Rijeka construction site”, while Klapa Intriga provided top-notch musical entertainment. In addition to a flower bouquet and sash, the new Queen was showered with gifts by this year’s sponsors and received a specially designed brooch by Mala Galerija as well as a cheque for a reward trip with her carnival group.
The costumed madness has just begun and this year’s Rijeka Carnival programme promises plenty of great fun and dancing. The full programme of the 2025 Rijeka Carnival is available at www.visitRijeka.hr.
