Yesterday, as I was driving home from Ljubljana, I saw a line of people with torches. The sight reminded me of the traditional torch-lit night march in the forrest of Udinboršt, organised each year by »Pod Krivo jelko« (»Under the crooked fir tree«) cultural-tourist society. Something I have heard about, but never attended. I immediately decided to change that and also photograph the event. So this year I went - together with my sister Katarina, who also has a photographic blog.
A lot of snow has fallen in the days before the march. And as the torches were lit, everything began to spark and glitter in the glow of the flame. It was like taking a walk through an enchanted forrest! As the story goes, a large crooked fir tree used to grow in the middle of the Udinboršt forrest. In the 18th century, the tree was the meeting place of bandits and outlaws. And underneath that tree they crafted their plans for their wicked ways. And that’s where we were headed! Unfortunately, the fir tree is now gone, but nevertheless, as we reached the place where it used to grow, the march felt like a living fairytale!
I tried to capture that feeling in the photographs. I’m pretty satisfied with them. I also included one photo by Katarina in the series – the 8th picture is hers.
I am certainly coming back next year!









Edit: as was noted in the comments, the tree was a meeting place for army deserters (meaning they did not want to serve in the French army), and they also had women and children in their ranks. So while they were robbers, they were also a community and they did play their part during the French occupation, fighting against the french soldiers. Just so I don’t distort history.