Krampus—or parkelj in Slovenian—was created hundreds of years ago in the Austrian alpine region to punish naughty children.

As the devilish counterpart to St Nicholas, Krampus gives misbehaving children lumps of coal instead of the traditional Christmas presents for those who have been good all year round.

Organizers said the central European folklore festival of ugly creatures dragging balls of fire and whips of goat hairs attracts more and more people, and participants, from neighboring countries Austria, Croatia, and Italy, as well as Germany.