Feature: Carnival opens tourist season in small town of Serbia

With a carnival procession here on Saturday comprised of participants from Serbia and nearby countries, the small town of Bela Crkva in northeastern Serbia started another tourist season.

The carnival procession of majorettes, floats, drummers and masked groups of participants, mostly children, was the culmination of week-long celebrations for the traditional Carnival of Flowers that lasted for 150 years.

From June 22, the town, home to some 10,000 people near the Serbian border with Romania, saw the first rush of tourists from Serbia and nearby countries, who came to camp along its seven lakes, visit the National Park Deliblato Sands, or to fish or go sightseeing along the Danube River.

For them, the seven-day carnival is a long-awaited event for the summer.

Nemanja Matijasevic from Belgrade is here to promote the newest model of the racing car engineered by students of the Belgrade University, but he told Xinhua that he managed to find the time to enjoy the atmosphere of the festivities.

"I'm delighted that so many people came here. Lakes and the town of Bela Crkva are a wonderful place. I am here for the first time and it is simply wonderful. I plan to gather members of my team and to come one month here for a vacation," he said.

Velinka Mihajlovic from a nearby village said she is amused with this year's costumes and young people participating at the carnival.

"It's a beautiful tradition; it's nice that it's kept for so long. There are many guests this year from Novi Sad, Pancevo, whole Serbia, and from abroad," Mihajlovic told Xinhua.

Many other visitors also praised the small tourism town, and wished it a good season and lots of visitors.

People interviewed by Xinhua said they admired the fact that the city is still practicing such an old tradition, and that they are every year inspired by colorful costumes, music and the atmosphere.

This year's Carnival of Flowers, as usual, included exhibitions, poetry readings, children's beauty competition, concerts in the outdoors, culminating with the carnival procession for which girls and boys in Bela Crkva and nearby villages prepare for months.

Participants were also seen coming from other Serbian cities as well as from neighboring Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Macedonia.

Thousands of people this year strolled along the main street of Bela Crkva to witness this year's design of floats masks and dresses, choreographies of the majorettes and to buy souvenirs, candied apples, cotton candy and try some Serbian barbecue.

From the lodge set-up near the main stage on the crowded street, organizers of the event together with the representatives of the Federation of European Carnival Cities watched the procession and performances wearing funny carnival hats.

Novica Jovanovic, director of the tourist organization of Bela Crkva, said that some 500,000 people per year enter Serbia through the nearby border crossing and Bela Crkva manages to draw some of them with decent prices, camps, villas and its famous seven lakes.

"Bela Crkva sees its development potential in tourism as well as prospects to become recognized. Nature is our biggest potential," he said. "Bela Crkva has become famous for its Carnival of Flowers. We are proud that it has tradition of more than 150 years," Jovanovic added.

Ilija Blanusa, director of the Culture Center in Bela Crkva, said that since the carnival started on June 22, the city hosted numerous cultural events, including exhibitions, an evening dedicated to Salsa dance, children's beauty competition, rock and folk concerts, and theater plays.

"This will turn into a beautiful procession with the biggest number of participants in recent history," Blanusa said, hoping that the tourist season will be as beautiful and visited as this year's carnival procession. Endi