In the rural villages of Bulgaria, the "Kukeri" is an important masked
ritual, carried forward from the Thracians. They dance in the last days
of the winter, just before nature comes back to life.
The participants in this ritual are male only, dressed in sheepskin
garments and wearing scary masks and chanove (copper bells) on their
belts, dancing and singing Christmas songs and chants, with the
intention to scare away the evil spirits or ghosts which people
believed came back to the living ones in winter.
The ritual is a mixture between Christian and pagan traditions and
symbols. There is a strong correlation between the event and the
peasant life. It is a unique folklore, which can be seen only in
Bulgaria. The traditional mask is multi-coloured, covered with beads,
ribbons and woolen tassels. The dress too, is colorful and florid once
again up to the individual imagination.
To experience an authentic Kukeri in these modern times, it seems one
must travel some respectable distance from Bulgaria's larger cities of
Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna. This is because in the villages close to the
population centers where the locals spend their week working in the
cities, the true traditions of the Kukeri have become defiled with more
cosmopolitan ideas. Suggested village destinations are Ciroka Luka in
the Rhodope hills or Koprivshtitza in the Sredna Gora mountains. Other
places that can be visit are Hisar, near Sofia; Petrich at the south
west corner of Bulgaria; Razlog, near the famous tourist destination
Bansko. From New Year till the end of March you can see the kukeri
dance at different parts of Bulgaria. The photo thumbnails below are
from SURVA 2006 at Pernik, a town just 25 km SW from Sofia. Click for
larger images. From 27 till 29 of January, town Pernik was host of one
incredibly colorful holiday - International festival of the masquerade
games "SURVA 2006". During these days Kukeri from all over the country,
together with masquerade groups from abroad, mixed with the colorful
multitude from tourists and inhabitant to be a part of the tradition.
The International festival of the masquerade games, who this year
celebrate its 40th anniversary began with glamorous show, lighted by
high fires and bright illuminations. Almost 5000 participants from 84
different ethnographic districts of Bulgaria were dancing again on the
streets of town Pernik. Masquerade groups from 8 European countries
joined them, including Italy and North Ireland.
The streets of Pernik were filled with an air of excitement and
expectancy last few days. The players for the main event, who had come
from a wide selection of villages and towns, were busy working
themselves into a mass frenzy, ready to deliver the cacophony of noise
and music special to this pagan festival. This ancient tradition is
sometimes enacted to welcome in the new. It is to welcome the spring,
chase away evil spirits and to beg the ‘good spirits' to make fertile
the people and the land.
Set on a platform, high in the corner of the main square, a small band
of musicians and singers perform the non-stop, tunes and songs to
encourage the dancing of the traditional Bulgarian circle dance, the
horo. This continues all day and well into the night. Huge rings of
happy dancers sway from side to side, each circle surrounding the one
inside of it until the main square is filled to capacity.
http://www.surva.org/
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