Girls from Gabrovo and the surrounding area started training at the school for “lazarki” girls, BNR’s Velina Mahlebashieva reports. The initiative, which has been helping preserve tradition for 10 years, belongs to the Etar ethnographic open-air museum.
The girls will learn about the rituals connected with Lazarovden, St. Lazarus day, the symbolism of maiden rituals, ritual songs, dances and well-wishing. The beautiful spring festival dedicated to love and fertility falls on the Saturday during the week preceding Easter. On this day the girls will don their best clothes and sing and dance in the same way girls of times past did. According to tradition, these are rituals girls perform before they can marry.
At the end of the 19th century, the Czech artist and folklorist Ludvík Kuba travelled to Bulgaria with one goal in mind: to explore the country's rich song heritage. The melodies he collected were published in a separate volume of his Slavic Song..
In the Bulgarian folk tradition, the feasts of Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday are related holidays. From Lazarus Saturday (Lazarovden in Bulgaria), girls prepare for the ritual kumichene, which is performed on the morning of Palm Sunday. A very old..
In April and May the visitors of the Strelcha Historical Museum will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the traditions connected with the Easter holiday cycle through the exhibition A Fine Easter, a Finer St. George’s Day . Easter..
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