In Slovenia, Lent is a season marked by ancient traditions. One even with a long history is now gaining popularity in the nation’s capital: an annual Herring Feast that takes place on Ash Wednesday.

As part of Catholic tradition, fish was commonly consumed during the season of Lent. In 1908, the management of Ljubljana’s recently-opened Grand Hotel Union decided to turn the tradition into an annual culinary event. The hotel had opened its doors just three years later and was among the most modern in what was then Austria-Hungary. Its owners realized that giving a new spin to an old tradition would put the hotel on the map.

Herring started out as the main ingredient at the feast, just as it had been at the forefront of Lent-time dinners for generations. However, it was soon joined by various freshwater fish from across Slovenia and, later, various kinds of seafood from the Adriatic Sea. The event quickly turned out to be a success and the annual tradition has continued ever since, with the official count starting in 1925.

Even though it is still known under its original name, the Herring Feast has grown more elaborate each passing year. Delicacies such as lobster, scallops, oysters, and mussels are a must, and the multicourse meal now certainly lies up to its billing as an exquisite feast; the hotel’s chefs begin ordering the ingredients weeks in advance. Increasingly, it is the place to see and be seen for Ljubljana’s fashionable people.

In recent years, the Herring Feast has also served as a competition in which top chefs face off each other in their quest to prepare Slovenia’s best seafood. The entire event has become a media event, attracting photographers and camera crews eager to capture both the last-minute preparations as well as the always interesting feast that follows. And it all started with a group of hoteliers who decided to turn a religious tradition into an annual event more than a century ago.