The Heart of Slovenia provides an almost year-round calendar of events covering a wide area of themes and interests. Unsurprisingly Kamnik leads the way, with a variety of festivals to appeal to all ages. The Arboretum Spring Flower Show (Volčji Potok) is traditionally at the end of April and beginning of May, and sees the famous tulips of Volčji Potok blossom in a cacophony of effervescence. They say there are two million, but with colourful flowers covering almost 50% of the park the number is irrelevant, the visual is more than enough. The Festival of Countess Veronika follows this on the third Friday of May, a child-centric festival in the town centre.

The second weekend of June sees Medieval Days, where the past comes alive in the re-enacting of events from a 13th century poem. Started in 1997, the undoubted highlight is the Knight’s Games, featuring knights from all over the country. KamFest Summer Festival takes place in the middle of August at the foot of Mali Grad, an explosion of performance art. The National Costume Festival (second weekend of September) is the real jewel in Kamnik’s festival crown however.

Mengeš under the Umbrella takes place in February at the Špas Teater Hall, and it proudly shows off the long musical heritage of Mengeš with all sorts of local talent featured. In the last week of September Mengeš also plays host to St Michael’s Fair, where homemade crafts are shown off and music and food are gorged on in a tent. Kranjska Klobasa is one of the many traditional Trzin items showcased at the annual St Florian Fair (first weekend of May), where the achievements of Trzin are brought to the fore. Trzin also plays host to TRZNFEST towards the end of May, featuring workshops, live music, theatre productions and even speed dating.

Over the course of the first three seasons of the year Dol pri Ljubljani has a fair in homage to all three, with winter being left out because of the less-than-agreeable weather. Spring, Summer and Autumn fairs focus on the development and maintenance of local cultural and cuisine, by spreading the word across generations. Litija specializes in organized hiking days. The second Saturday of May is usually the time for the Charcoal Path Hike, a four-hour hike through the land of charcoal burners that takes place in the evening. Educational as well as intriguing, it is well worth a visit. The major hiking event of the region (as well as one of the most popular in Slovenia) takes place at the beginning of November on St Martin’s Day, in the shape of Levstik’s Trail. A 22km hike through the hills of Dolenjska, it follows the trail put to paper by Fran Levstik in the imaginatively titled ‘The Journey from Litija to Čatež’. Information boards dot the route containing passages from the book. The trail is open all year round, but this event is not to be missed.

Lukovica hosts a number of culinary festivals such as the St Peregrine Fair at the end of April. Domžale plays host to an International Mountain Film Festival (spring time), showcasing the finest films made about mountaineering. Domžale’s main festival is the Studenec Summer Theatre, which takes place in the middle of July and sees thousands descend upon the town to feast on a variety of live art.