The clear skies above Ljubljana Castle have yet again shone in the burst of fireworks. This year, the rockets were made from bio-degradable materials and lit the sky in the colours of Ljubljana, Slovenia and Europe, i.e. green and silver, blue and red, blue and golden. The celebrations in Ljubljana were spread on four city squares.

5,000-strong crowd in Koper
In Slovenia’s largest coastal town, Koper, about 5,000 people gathered for a New Year party to admire 5-minute fireworks on the square near the Maritime Bureau at midnight. The people of Maribor danced into 2017 to the sounds of Tanja Žagar, Helena Blagne and the Čudežna polja band in Leon Štukelj Square. Outdoor celebrations were also organised in Kranj, Celje, Novo mesto and Murska Sobota.

The population of Slovenia also expanded with new-born inhabitants. The first to be brought into this world in the New Year was a baby boy who was delivered a minute past midnight in the Kranj maternity hospital, while the first baby girl was born in Ljubljana at 1.33 a.m.

Unfortunately, the New Year’s Eve was a busy time for firefighters. A few fires broke out in the open: mostly grass and bushes near residential buildings catching fire due to pyrotechnics. Two groups of revellers in Ljubljana also suffered through a not-so-pleasant experience of getting stuck in the lift: firefighters were called to come to their aid a few minutes past midnight at Kersnik Street (7 people) and Poljane Bank (9 people), reported the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief.

D. S., K. S., MMC; translated by K. Z.