The Pokači from Haloze –
About a Slovenian carnival tradition southeast of Maribor, about costumes, equipment and techniques used by the Pokači/whip crackers, about three generations of a family working together, about how a 13-year-old Pokač breaks the sound barrier with wood, hemp and palm products, delighting neighbours within a 10-kilometre radius with his historical craft and traditional sayings, how only jumping over a fence saved him from a vicious dog, and how he is already thinking about how he can not only preserve the Pokač tradition, but also pass it on.
A reportage by Lana Horvat, Zoja Spevan and Živa Dokl from the OŠ Videm pri Ptuju; as part of „Jugend schreibt“ (Youth writes) in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ published on 16.02.2026. With the support of the Municipality of Videm, Project management/Photos (c): INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB, Tržec.
