If you are in love, celebrate St. Valentine's day. If you are in love with wine, celebrate Trifon Zarezan's Day on Feb 14th (Feb 1st, new style)
You are either very happy or very miserable on Valentine’s Day; there seems to be no middle position. For most people.
Bulgarians have found a simple solution to this problem of the extreme emotions. We celebrate two holidays on February 14th, St. Valentine’s and St. Trifon Zarezan!
On the day of St. Trifon Zarezan, the guardian of vine-growers, we celebrate our love for wine! According to the old custom, this is the day when you prune the old twigs of the vine, so that it can sprout anew in the spring. This is an old ritual for vitality and fertility. Vine-growers, gardeners, winemakers, tavern-keepers, bartenders, and men called Trifon have a special day. Together with them, we all feast and drink wine.
Actors dressed in traditional Bulgarian clothing demonstrate how to prune the vines in preparation for the spring
So, if your loved one is with you, celebrate St. Valentine’s! If not, get on some good wine and forget about love! Different saints for your different desires!
(The Catholic St. Valentine’s Day was not very popular in Eastern Europe before Western pop culture introduced the holiday. Today, shop windows’ decorations, love-themed events, and the general obsession with chocolate, red roses, and pink hearts testify that Bulgarians, as most other peoples, prefer to be drunk on love, not wine.)
You can learn more about the folklore aspect of Trifon Zarezan from this article: http://www.balkanfolk.com/news.php?id=94
Read more about other wonderful Bulgarian traditions, Martenitzi and Kukeri Processions.
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February 13, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Timmy
Love that traditional bg clothing!
February 16, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Nikola
On that day Bulgarians also honoured an other traditional event – February 14th was the last day of the so called “week for seeking forgiveness”. During that week tradition requires that yonger Bulgarians visit (nowadays is possible only to call) their elderly relatives, or friends, offer a simbolic present and ask forgiveness for any possible wrong, done during the year. The one who comes to seek forgiveness usually kisses the hand of the elder one saying “Please forgive me, if I have done any mistake towards you”. The elder one answers “Be forgiven, and you also forgive me if I have done anything wrong to you”.
What follows is a good meal with the favourite Bulgarian drinks – rakia and wine.
February 16, 2010 at 4:10 pm
zikata
And in Bulgarian, this day is called Прошка [Proshka]!
Thank you for the nice comments to both of you! :*
February 19, 2010 at 1:15 am
fallen angel
Obicham rakia i vino
March 6, 2010 at 4:01 pm
kathaireinv
Haha @fallen angel.
I love the traditional clothing as well. i want to learn Horo so bad! ^__^
But this is such a cool holiday, wish I knew about it before! haha. I’m not such a big fan of Valentine’s day, but I do buy chocolate for myself sometimes, haha. I don’t think you need a holiday to show love, though everybody needs it.
So did they move the date to feb.1st as well?
March 7, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Timmy Wall
Traditionally, it has always been on Feb 14, but they recently changed the religious calendar, so it’s officially on Feb 1st now.. which gives you a reason to celebrate it twice – new style and old style
August 2, 2010 at 8:19 pm
It doesn’t get more organic than this « Zikata's Blog
[...] Melnik region is famous for its red wines, so many of the houses have cellars. The vast vineyards growing on the outskirts of Kapatovo, [...]
September 10, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Katley
In wine there is truth
(in vino veritas).
In Germany there are the Ice Saints (Eisheiligen), whose feast days are connected with the planting of the vines, in mid-May. During this time German vintners pray for mild weather.
I was listening to a broadcast about Holy Cross Day and the wine harvest season on Bulgarian radio, which brought to mind something I had written about wine and Bulgarian folklore several months ago.
http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/05/significance-of-wine-in-bulgarian.html