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Shameless plug for the neighbors with a similar fun custom: the "Zvončari" (the bell-men) [1]. One detail I didn't see on the Slovenian side is "the Devil" which is a single person dressed in all-black, black face paint, and horns to represent the devil, and is supposed to mingle and pretend to cause trouble - push people, hug the onlookers making sure to leave face paint marks, etc.
The carnival has been running since 1960.
Its also on a UNESCO list.
"“In fact, it is a special feeling of power and some kind of supernatural energy,” says one participant in a UNESCO video about the festival. “When you put your cap on you somehow go through a certain transformation from the ordinary man to a true Korant [Korent], a supernatural being.”"
Your festival doesn't need to go back into the mists of time to be supernatural, I guess...
The festival itself may be young, but the tradition is way older: pre-Christian and found in various forms all over central Europe.
Where do you get that info from?