Forgiveness Day

Like Lent, this is linked to Easter (seven weeks before) so the date changes every year. The tradition is that families get together around a meal of cheese and egg and the younger members ask forgiveness from the older ones. The fact that Bulgarians need a special day to remind them to say sorry says quite a bit about their general attitude. If you’re in a village out of the city, you’ll probably also see lots of fires on this day. People leap over them for health but, more normally, they’re used as a good excuse for a social gathering. 

Martenitsi

These are bracelets made of red and white thread that you give to everyone you know on the first of March. Everyone does it as it’s a tradition that everyone can get involved with regardless of age, nationality, background or beliefs. A couple of weeks before Baba Marta, temporary stalls pop up everywhere – particularly around public transport stops or anywhere with a lot of footfall – all of them selling countless varieties of martenitsi. You wear them until the first time you see a stork when you then take them off and hang them on the branch of a blossoming tree.

Baba Marta

A day for the coming of spring. Baba means Grandma, Marta is March. It’s celebrated on the first of March and the weather throughout the month is said to reflect Baba Marta’s mercurial temperament: sunny and warm when she’s happy, cold and snowy when she’s not. Along with the martenitsi, there are two small dolls which are similar to corn dollies, but made out of red and white wool. The white one is male and called Pizho, the red is female and called Penda. You’ll see these decorating buildings and rooms everywhere as well as being worn as pendants.