| The fairs – endless
popular entertainment. In the Rhodopes, and in Bulgaria
as a whole, the fair is a people’s festival. It plays an important
role in the traditional culture of the Orthodox population,
particularly in the far-off mountainous areas. It is organized
on sundry occasions and always in the open. The Rhodope glens
get illuminated and resound with the singing and dancing of
the participants. The natural scent of pine resin and geranium
intermingles with the smell of grills and fried pancakes.
The fair is a wealth that has been preserved over the millennia
in the hearts of Bulgarians. Kukers’
Day in Ivaylovgrad – one of the greatest festivals
for the inhabitants of Ivaylovgrad, Southern Bulgaria. It’s
kept every year at winter’s end and the outset of spring,
on the day of the religious Bulgarian custom, Sirni zagovezni
(the first Sunday before Lent). The essence of the festival
is to chase the evil spirits and the diseases away from
the people’s houses and farms, to wish good health and a
good harvest to the whole village. The kukers dress up in
various masks and play the part of newly married people,
of constables, of devils etc. In Ivaylovgrad, the chief
character is the bey (boss), from whose home the kukers’
procession starts early in the morning. The kukers are members
of the Probuda <awakening> community centre in the
Ladzha quarter, which regularly participates in the international
kuker festival that’s held every 2 years in Pernik.
Trifon the Clipper’s Day in Ivaylovgrad
– in the old style, February 14 is St. Trifon the Clipper’s
festival, the protector of vineyards. In Ivaylovgrad this
is marked as the town’s official day, too, and it is also
dedicated to the vineyards and to wine. On this day a merry
Bulgarian round dance whirls around in the town square,
songs are sung and sweet red Ivaylovgrad wine is poured
out. A kukers’ procession, headed by Trifon the Clipper,
leads the people to the vineyards for the rite called “clipping”.
There, they “clip” their vineyards and pour wine from a
wooden wine vessel upon the cut place. That way they leaven
the vineyard with its own fruit.
Day of the Thracian child –
one of the most significant events in the Ivaylovgrad Municipality,
Southern Bulgaria. Each year on the first Saturday of June,
in the Iliya’s field area a national young
people’s Thracian fair is held on the occasion of the Day
of the Thracian child. In this spot in 1996 a memorial complex
was erected, with an original monument, a drinking fountain,
and a St. Petka Balgarska chapel in memory of the thousands
of Thracian refugees, among whom over 200 children, killed
during the Inter-allies War in 1913.
The ground baked sesame-seed establishment
in Ivaylovgrad – ground baked sesame-seed manufacture
out of raw sesame using an old technology – with a rinsing
cradle, an oven for baking the sesame and a mill for grinding
it. The only ground baked sesame-seed shops working under
this technology in Bulgaria are the ones in Ivaylovgrad
and in the village of Borislavtsi, Madzharovo Municipality.
This is made up of baked and ground sesame pasta. It’s rich
in vitamins and minerals. Its value is exceptional due to
the presence of unique amino acids. Its color is light and
it has a very pleasant taste. It can be consumed in an unprocessed
state, or else mixed with an equal amount of bee honey.
The sesame oil contained in the ground baked sesame-seed
is completely assimilated by the human organism. The ground
baked sesame-seed is very good for the stomach and the intestines,
it stimulates the physical and mental activity, makes you
more enduring, and it reinforces the bone and muscle structure. |
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