
THE
WHEEL-DANCE OF NOVI (novljansko kolo) is one pf those special
occasion when the number of people wearing folk costumes is the
greatest. The wheel-dance is danced in the afternoon of three
consecutive days, on the square in front of the Frankopan castle
at the time of carnival or
Mesopust as it is known in the
vernacular.
A group of young men „the Mesopustari“ are the main participants
of the traditional part of the true national play.

The
wheeldance takes place on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Numerous
picturesque male and female folk costumes gather in a dance in
which accompanies the dance says. The dancers follow the rhythm
of the "wheel-dance singers", who in two voices sing heroic folk
songs which in octosyllabic verse praise the heroic past of our
peoples, particulary the inhabitans of
Novi Vinodolski.
Cultural heritage of Novi Vinodolski includes national costums,
songs, long wooden flute "sopile" and male and female national
garbs. Oral tradition, pride and patriotism of the inhabitans
helped that valuable heritage to be preserved and to be
transmitted from father to son. Local people proudly call this
costume the
folk garb of Novi and it is still something
they live with, not a mere museum exhibit; they wear it on many
festive occasions during the year.