Idrija Lace Festival 2011

Summer is the time for festivals and when it comes to this Slovenia is no different. If you happen to be in the neighbourhood this weekend, you should visit the 30th Idrija Lace Festival. It is an ethnological, cultural, educational and entertaining event. This year it is taking place from Friday June 17th till Sunday June 19th.

Idrija is a small town in the western part of Slovenia. It has over 500 years of history heavily related with mining of cinnabar ore, from which 13 percent of world's mercury was produced. It was the second oldest and biggest mercury mine in the world that had closed in 1995 due to commercial, geological and ecological reasons.
Technical heritage from that time is well preserved and a visitor can take a close look at many interesting technical achievements from the half of millennium of history. Besides the mine museum and the largest preserved water wheel in Europe, one of the highlights is definitely Anthony’s Shaft - the oldest part of the Idrija Mine which belongs to the oldest preserved entrances into any mine throughout the world.

This weekend is the perfect time to visit Idrija. Besides many permanent exhibitions the town literally breathes the lacemaking tradition during the annual festival.