Juvenalia (redirected from Ludi Juvenales)

Juvenalia

Three days in June

During the Juvenalia festival each year in Krakow, Poland, the students of Jagiellonian University take over the city for three days. After the mayor hands over the keys to the city, they dress up in costumes and masks and parade through the streets making fun of anything they choose. This celebration goes back to a medieval tradition, when new students at the university had to pay a tax to older ones as part of their ritual entry into college life—much like the "hazing" that goes on in fraternities and sororities at American colleges.

CONTACTS:
Polish National Tourist Office
5 Marine View Plz.
Hoboken, NJ 07030
201-420-9910; fax: 201-584-9153
www.polandtour.org

SOURCES:
BkHolWrld-1986, Jun 4

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Juvenalia 

in ancient Rome, a holiday established by the emperor Nero and celebrated with games and theatrical presentations in honor of Juventas, the goddess of youth. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, celebrations of the holiday were marked by extreme licentiousness.