PIKIN FESTIVAL

Parking spaces are situated in close proximity to the central venue at TRC Jezero. To reach them, just follow clearly visible direction signs shaped like Pippi’s yellow buttons.

• 2 € on weekday afternoons and throughout the whole weekend.
• Parking is free on weekday mornings.

On weekdays, festival is open from 9.00 until 13.30 and from 15.30 until 18.30. During the lunch time (from 13.30 until 15:30), visitors can take a tour of Čira-Čara Villa, visit the lake beach, take a ride on Pippi’s Boat, which will take them to Watertown (Vodno mesto), greet Slovenian Army and test their own skills on the training field, or simply take a break in the Resting Place (Počivališče) with a view. Also open during this break time is the main street in Pippitown with its culinary and other offers. On the opening (Sunday) and closing (Saturday) days, the venue is open non-stop from 10:00 until 18:30.

The theme of this year’s festival is Do It Yourself. What can we create ourselves and what can we learn how to make? That will be this year’s challenge for children’s little heads and deft hands. Together we are going to repair cars, change lightbulbs, plant a garden, build a house and sew clothes, install water supply lines, make things of wood and dough. Every little curious apprentice can become a real master in various skills. Discover Pippi’s resourcefulness inside you and test yourself in different fields. Don’t forget, any experience will remain a part of you for good!

Pippi Longstocking will arrive on Sunday 18^th, at 16.00, just in time for the opening ceremony.

Children’s creative workshops are suitable for preschool and school children. During the festival you can visit more than a hundred creative workshops in Pippi’s Town Hall and in the big tent. There are also different types of workshops in little houses in the art district as well as in Pippi’s garden.

There are going to be several sports fields within the festival area, where children can test the level of their motoric abilities. A playground next to Čira-Čara Villa offers diverse pirate activities such as climbing, overcoming obstacles, challenging one’s motoric skills, ‘skating’ with scrubbing brushes on one’s feet (just like Pippi does when she’s cleaning her villa), riding wooden horses, etc. Festival will also be providing different athletic, gymnastic, and obstacle courses suitable for children of different ages.

Pleničkarnica is babies’ and toddlers’ palace. There you will find a changing table, a feeding corner and a playroom suitable for the youngest visitors. Outside Pleničkarnica there is also an attended parking area for strollers.

For individual visitors, admission to the central venue at TRC Jezero is free. Organized groups will be greeted by one of Pippi’s guides who will escort them during their entire visit. The price for an organized visit is 3 € per person. Admission is also free for visits to more than a hundred creative workshops within the festival area, for Pippitown, art districts with amusing daily programs, scouts, Indians, interactive courses and outdoor experiential workshops. All the concerts and plays on the central stage are also free of charge.

The program at the central festival venue at TRC Jezero (concerts, plays, puppet shows, music lessons conducted by Music School) begins at 15.30 and ends at 18.30. On the opening family day on Sunday and Pippi’s closing day on Saturday, program will be running all day, from 10.00 until 18.30.

Entrance fee for plays performed on Pippi’s stage in the town center (Culture Hall Velenje), which will be performed every day at 9.30 and at 11.30, is 5 €. For plays performed on Tomaž’s stage (Music School Velenje), also at 9.30. and 11.30, entrance fee will be 2 €.

Certainly. Beside organizing group visits, we always ensure that there are some available seats for individual visitors for each play. You can buy your ticket at the ticket office which opens one hour before the play starts, or you can secure your ticket even sooner, at Festival Velenje’s box office.

It sure is. The boat captain is one experienced pirate. Also, each passenger gets a life jacket. The boat can accommodate 18 people and a single ride lasts for about 30 minutes. Younger children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. The price of a single boat ride is 1 € for children and 2 € for adults.

Velenje Water Sports Club and other providers will be renting various vessels during the Festival, including canoes, kayaks and sailboats. You can also rent paddle boats at the open bar at Velenje beach.

There is plenty of options. There will be a campsite in near proximity of TRC Jezero where you can sleep in a tent. There are several hotels in the town center (Hotel Paka, Hotel Razgoršek, Youth Hostel). TIC Velenje (Velenje Tourist Information Center) offers especially affordable family packages during the festival.

Medical workers will constantly be present during the festival working hours and will provide emergency care when needed.

To reach the central festival venue, take the yellow line on the free city bus Lokalc.

There is a small house in the Pippitown’s main street where the most delicious funcakes are made. You can also get regular pancakes at any other restaurant at the festival venue.

There is a place called Fickarnica in Pippitown, where several kinds of Fickos (Mr. Nillson) will be sold. You can also get it in Pippi’s stores at several different locations.

There are several eateries in Pippitown, where you can have both hot and cold meals. There is also restaurant Jezero at the festival site, which offers both set daily menus and à la carte dishes.

Of course it is! A walk around the festival venue is like a visit to Pippi’s fairyland. Your little ones can admire colorful gateways of numerous houses in Pippitown, visit art districts, the fairy forest, Pippi’s Garden and her Čira-Čara Villa. For children up to four years of age we have prepared a special area called Pleničkarnica, which will include a parking space for strollers, a playground for developing motor skills, changing facilities, and a feeding area.

There is no theme park inside the festival area. There are, however, some amusement parks in the wider area of the festival’s central site. You will be required to pay the admission fee.

You know how they say: unity is strength, or two heads are better than one, or it’s not the winning but the taking part that counts? All these, and some other sayings as well, help model Pippi’s Festival. Through all the festival activities, organizers manage to combine different interests, to interweave the ideas of all the initiators and make even the most unusual suggestions come true. Every bit counts, no matter how big or small. Participation is like a large area in which all sorts of interests cross and intertwine, where new ideas spark and experience is gained.

We invite you to become a part of Pippi’s Festival!

Pippi’s Stage / Culture Hall Velenje / 5 €

Tomaž’s Stage / Music School Velenje / 2 €

Organization and guided tour / 3 € per person

A ride on Pippi’s Boat for groups up to 20 children / 1 € per child

Monday to Thursday: 9:00 – 13:30 and 15:30 – 18:30

Friday: 9:00 – 18:30

Sunday and Saturday 10:00 – 18:30

On weekdays, you can spend the lunch break visiting Čira-Čara Villa, the main street in Pippi’s Town, exercise in the fitness course, take a ride on Pippi’s boat and enjoy on Pippi’s lake beach.

The site can be accessed on foot via walking path leading from the town center to the festival site, or, if you are coming from Šoštanj, via cycling route or a footpath along the lakes. A car can get very close to the central festival site next to the White Hall (Bela dvorana). There you can park your car in a regulated parking area for 2 € per day.

If you are coming by bus, after exiting your bus at the main station, take Lokalc – a free local bus which will get you to the site. In case you are arriving to the festival by train, after getting off of your train, go along the Simon Blatnik Street (Cesta Simona Blatnika) for about ten minutes.