Migrant Children joined the “Royal Carnival“ in Banja Koviljaca

On Sunday, 23 June 2019, Banja Koviljaca hosted 9^th “Royal Carnival”, which gathered 29 carnival groups from Serbia and the region. Civic Association “Royal Carnival”, with the support from the City of Loznica, local community Banja Koviljaca, Tourism Organization of Loznica and Cultural Centre “Vuk Karadzic”, has been traditionally organizing a masquerade ball and gathering 500 participants in this spa town.

In addition to the large number of participant from other cities and countries, this year the Carnival was also joined by the migrant children from the Asylum Centre in Banja Koviljaca. EU Support to Migration Management in Serbia provided the necessary conditions and the material for making the carnival masks, which were jointly presented by secondary school students from Loznica and migrant children. Joint work on making masks and preparing for the performance was an opportunity for young people from different cultures to get closer, strengthen their friendship and creatively express themselves.

Migrant children, together with their friends from Loznica, got a huge and well-deserved applause. Dragica Lakanovic from the International Organization for Migration said that this year they are participating in the carnival for the first time and added: “Migrant children are thrilled, they like everything they’ve seen and they are very glad that they participated in the organization and creation of masks. We came out in wonderful costumes and I hope we’ll get the chance to participate next year as well.”

The carnival event and the inclusion of a large number of institutions and organizations shows the great readiness of the City of Loznica to invest in the unity of all participants, to create a society based on tolerance, respecting diversity and interculturality.

Music, the variety of masks, multitude of colours and beauty of nature, as well as the various cultures, brought smiles and nice mood to the participants and guests and brought the ninth “Royal Carnival” to a successful close.

The name “Royal Carnival” should remind people of the status and prestige that Banja Koviljaca had during the time of King Aleksandar Karadjordjevic (1888-1934). The aim of the event is to enrich the cultural and artistic programme of Banja Koviljaca and to introduce the visitors to some of the features of this Serbian town famous for health care and tourism.