Festivals and Rituals in Bulgaria have been counted and the figure goes well beyond 11,000 a fact that affects Bulgarian people's lives from birth to death and probably beyond.

Most of these date back thousands of years although some had adopted a modern twist.

This winter festival is named after Kolyada, the Slavic God of winter. Forty days before Christmas Day there is a fasting on meat, although fish is acceptable.

In modern Bulgaria, this is now more of a symbol of thought than an active event although there is still a tendency to abstain from meat eating a few days before Christmas Day.

The Christmas table is the gathering point for families all over Bulgaria and this takes place on December 24, Christmas Eve.

Before any food is eaten, incense is burnt to drive away any evil spirits that may be lurking.

Food is always important to Bulgarians with traditional homemade "banitsa" (baked dough with cheese) a common sight. Another popular dish for the table is "Surmi" made of preserved cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and spices.

The food continues with a ritual bread called "pogachas", (baked round bread), with each portion containing a fortune telling message. As each person takes a portion their fortune is read for the coming year.

No meat is displayed on the Christmas table. Traditionally only products grown and cultured by the host during the year, such as boiled wheat, beans, pumpkin and dried fruits, are present.

The fireplace is another important family Christmas tradition in Bulgaria. This is where many predictions for the coming year are made and a special Yule log which has been chosen and set aside especially for the Christmas Eve is burnt.

Another part of the Bulgarian Christmas are "The Koledari" or "Sourvakari" (pitured) which means Carol singers. They make their way to the houses in the village with wishes for health and prosperity.

The presents given and received are very simple gifts, usually hand made in the villages.

This is the most colourful time of the year and a major feast of customs accompany the New Year's celebrations in Bulgaria.

Steeped in the haziness of time and historic tradition, "The fire which spread the warmth during winter and the table beholden with food from the heavens" have been symbols of New Year celebrations.

It is said that the more abundant the food the more successful the coming year will be in terms of produce from the land. This is the reason for the large quantity of food that is laid out on the table.

There is always the customary ritual bread decorated with symbols and representations mainly of vines and hives.

The banitsa also has a special place on the table which has cornel buds added to the recipe, bringing good luck to the family, the home and the livestock. In addition it promises good health and well-being.

This ritual also known as "Singing to Rings", is celebrated by unmarried girls and women who are eager to find a husband.

The ritual starts early in the morning, when all the pretty girls in the village put their rings of oats and barley into a cauldron filled with natural spring water.

The rings are then tied with red thread to a bunch of green leaves. The cauldron is then left standing overnight for the young maidens to perform a ritual dance before their fortunes are told.

The month of March is filled with probably the most popular ritual in Bulgaria apart from Christmas and New Year. It is based around the, "Grandmother March", an old woman whose mood is as turbulent and unpredictable as the Bulgarian weather in March.

The first of March is the festival day on which people wish each other a "Chestita Baba Marta" (Happy Grandmother March) and give each other a gifts of martenitsas. These are small figures made from the tassels of white and red wool for health and good luck. They are tied onto on the wrists or pinned to clothes.

This custom is almost exclusive to Bulgaria, and is a ritual that it is not Slavic in origin. It cries of the awakening of spring, health and happiness in a very Bulgarian way.

The martentisas are worn right up to spotting the first stork which is the first sign of spring. This is when the good luck charms are tied to branches of trees and bushes.

You can see these distinctive red and white symbols all over Bulgaria in the trees and bushes.

Bulgaria supplies 70% of the rose oil in the world and it is used by every well known perfume company as a component of its products. It is not surprising that roses are known as "Bulgarian gold".

The festival is celebrated with carnivals, processions, folk songs and dances in the towns of Karlovo and Kazanluk and takes place on the first Sunday in June.

The entire valley which lies between the two respective towns, come alive during this time. The rose-picking starts well before the sun rises and before the rose scent has had a chance to disappear.

Young Bulgarian rose-pickers dressed in their colourful native costumes go to the rose fields amidst the sounds of folk music.

The whole event is dedicated to beauty, youth and hope. There are carnivals, processions and an abundance of folk songs and dancing up and down the streets of the two towns. "King Seuth" and "Queen Rose", long standing traditional characters open the ceremony on the first day of the festival and end the gala on the final day.

This is a festival and ritual in the name of the patron saint of vineyards. Trifon Zarezan is from the Thracian cult of Dionysus and was called "The Wild Dark God of Wine".

On 14 February, there is a ceremonial pruning of the vine shoots, and wine is ceremonially poured onto the earth. This is usually done amidst much music, dancing.

"Kukeri" is an important masked ritual in the rural villages of Bulgaria.  Originating from the Thracians, they dance in the last days of the winter.

Dressed in sheepskin garments and wearing scary masks and chanove (copper bells) on their belts, the men dance and singing Christmas songs and chants to scare away the evil spirits 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.

Sirni Zagovezni

One of the favourite festivals is called "Sirni Zagovezni" meaning "Shrove Sunday" or "The Great Lent". This comes around each year falling on a Sunday some seven weeks before Easter.

It is a time to celebrate the beginning of spring, and is a period of fasting. in fact it is the longest fasting period of the year in Orthodox tradition. This means abstaining from meat, dairy products, (fish is allowed once a week). No traditional dancing and no marriages can take place until Easter.

Even now in many villages and towns the traditional ritual of building a large bonfires is ripe. There is either a communal bonfire or individual fires made by groups of neighbours on their own. 

The fires would normally be built in higher areas with the belief that this would prevent hailstorms striking in the areas they are lit.

Prior to the event, hand carved wooden rockets are made and laid out to dry for a week or two so they are tinder dry for the day.

Once attached to sticks, these rockets will be launched after being set alight from the bonfire.

The "take off" is achieved by the stick to which rocket is attached, is beaten against another. This projects the rocket it up to 100 metres in the air.   Just as each is launched, a name is shouted out and that rocket subsequently dedicated to that person, family, friend or lover.

The rockets are collected by young Bulgarian maidens, and whoever collects the most will be deemed to be the fairest in the town or village. The young male pilots of the rockets therefore usually aim their rockets at their favoured maiden's home to make it easier for them to find.

This is a tradition where both young and old gather.  The bonfire is the place where the young ask  forgiveness  from the old.  It is a time for everyone to resolve past quarrels.  It is traditionally a time for the younger members of the community to show respect the elders.

Jumping over the fire is another part of the custom. This ritual usually performed by the younger members of the community, although many older members have been known to make an attempt.   It is said that the farthest jump would give that young man a wife in the autumn, but all attempts will give good health to participants for their efforts.

When the rocket launching and jumping have finished, and probably the wine and rakia almost finished, it doesn't stop there.  This after all, is the last day of feasting and dancing prior to the fasting period. so it is back home for Bulgarian apple bobbing, wining, dining and dancing until the early hours.

The morning brings about a focus of the body and mind until Easter.

Fire-dancing called Nestinarstvo extends a bridge between the past and the future, and shows a tiny fragment of the cultural heritage of Bulgaria.  It is something unique and almost unknown though it has existed in the heart of Europe for centuries on.

The phenomenon still remains unveiled; an enigma posing many unanswered questions. Fire dancing is one of the oldest pagan rituals in the Balkans.  It has defied the persecutions of both Christianity and communism to survive through the millennia.

In a trance-like state, locals in the tiny Strandja village of Bulgari still dance barefoot on burning embers, just as their ancestors did thousands of years ago.

They say: "One cannot be taught to dance over embers unless they were born to be nestinari (fire dancers).  You should believe that God will keep you safe. You should be good and wish evil to no one. Then you will not feel the heat".

They also believe mental preparation and cold feet, along with the thundering, monotonous music of bagpipes and drum are key.

The "Llinden" (The Festival of Lamb)

The "Llinden" is a big Rhodope festival in celebration of the lamb where it is roasted on a spit over an open fire.  This is accompanied by the famous Rhodope bagpipes.

It is held every year in early August near the village of Shiroka Luka.

This day honors the souls of relatives that have passed away.

Normally, Bulgaria's All Soul's Day is before the second Sunday before Lent, St. Spas' day, St. Dimitar's day or St. Michael's day.

But in some regions this day is celebrated on Christmas Day, St. Todor's day, St. George's day or Virgin Mary's day.

According to tradition the family of the dead visit their graves, pour wine and incense on them and give to all who are there an offering of boiled wheat and other food saying. "May God forgive them".

Weddings

The traditional Bulgarian wedding is rich in symbolism with the groom having to first prove himself.

On the wedding day he and his entourage must go from his home and act out an ambush by the bride's party.   The mission is to capture the bride's house against some given resistance.

The groom or in many cases his brother, who acts on his behalf, must also endure and enact feats of bravery in order to become worthy of the bride and then take her safely back home.

The bride does not get away with the mission of marriage without a trial as she has her own challenges to deal with.   She must say goodbye to her past and her friends and family with much crying done in the process.   Then away from the tears she must visit her new intended home and family and enter the unknown.

There is a symbol of the wedding banner that is made up of a flag attached to a pole that has been traditionally cut from a tree and topped with a gold foil-wrapped apple which represents the sun and fertility.  It is decorated with flowers, ivy, popcorn and chilli peppers dangling from string.

On the wedding day, the groom's team set off with the banner in hand as they proudly make their way to get the bride.  The bride's home having been reached they then capture her banner and unite it with the groom's to form one single banner.  It is then accompanied by the wedding party to the bride's new home.

The wedding now over, the banner is formally taken apart, the pole snapped and the materials given to the bride.  Lastly the apple is eaten by the newly married couple.

Christenings

This welcomes Bulgarians to Christianity.

The choice of person to be Godfather (it is unusual for a woman to be chosen), is not made without thought for he is considered to be the spiritual father to the child.

The carefully chosen Godfather has to bring a big white towel, a white cloth and some soap for the ritual cleaning of the face. 

The young Bulgarian's parents bring bread, candies and biscuits into the holy place. 

There is a cross that the priest puts over the child showing that he has to accept all the challenges ahead.

The child is carried three times around the font to show the joy of the unification with the faith.

Then a lock of hair is cut off to show that they have become God's servant. 

Finally a candle is lit for all who attend so that that everyone is holding a symbol of God's enlightenment.

The godfather gives his godchild a little gold or silver cross which is consecrated during the ritual, and has to be worn the whole life as a symbol of the Christian faith.

Much time and effort is taken to find a suitable christening dress for the child.

Funerals

There is a ritual that after the death of a Bulgarian, special bread is made and  eaten by the people attending the funeral.  The Bulgarians believe that the soul goes out of the house and makes circles around the chimney.  

After that, a different kind of bread is eaten, one that is a well baked. The people believe that after this, the soul starts a long journey.  The windows or the doors are opened, cups are turned upside-down and the mirrors and the portraits  are covered with blankets.

Without wanting to seem morbid, the families of the dead prepare the person for the funeral by washing and dressing the deceased and ensuring the eyes are shut for the fear of someone else dying.  Younger unfortunate deceased Bulgarians are dressed up in their wedding outfits.  This is all part and parcel of Bulgarian culture and not seen as a morbid.

It is also believed that the dead have the same needs as the living, which is why they put food and money with the deceased. The latter is to pay the  ransom to the new world.

It may seem strange to us, but there are rituals done to protect the dead from becoming a vampires.  This includes putting a cross, garlic and incense close to the body.  The death is announced by the ringing of the local church bell.  Not wailing over the dead body is seen as fearful.

A coffin, box or even a trunk is used to house the deceased.   A final goodbye is said before the deceased is taken to the cemetery (called the "home for the dead").  There is a cemetery on the outskirts of most villages.

At the funeral, everyone attending throws some soil over the coffin saying "May he/she rest in peace" or "God rest his/her soul". Before leaving everyone washes their hands.  A symbolic cleansing of the bad.

On the fortieth day after the funeral, a cross is put over the grave and a table on it.   There are other commemorations made after three and nine months and on the 1st and 3rd aniversary respectively.

The now remaining widows wear black clothes, black head clothes and wear no jewelry.  The dead are also remembered by posters with photographs of the deceased and can be seen all over Bulgaria on house gates and walls.