Noel, Weihnachten, Natale, Navidad, Christmas, Koleda. Many names, yet only one emotion: an emotion of everlasting warmth and kindness. Still, an emotion that annually reaches out to millions of hearts worldwide occurs in never-repetitive forms: the customs of Africa, the celebrations in Asia or the fireworks in Paris. At home in Bulgaria, the feeling of cheerful togetherness at Christmas is achieved through the family spirit and folk origins of the traditional celebrations of the holiday.
Usually, the festivities start as early as the morning of December 24. Groups of young girls and boys, dressed in folk costumes, visit their neighbouring houses and sing Christmas carols. Tradition decrees that they carry a woollen bag across their shoulder and a cornel-tree stick, which in Bulgarian is called sourvachka. The hostess welcomes her jolly guests with homemade gifts: kravaicheta (rings of bread), walnuts or dried fruits. The koledari (these Christmas singers) typically sing out their wishes for health, fertility and well-being of the housekeepers and their many animals: horses, lambs, bees, calves, etc.
Throughout the whole day of the 24th, everybody at home busily prepares for Christmas Eve. Mothers, grandparents and babies alike all dress up in their best outfits. The housewife, for instance, wears a new kerchief with a nosegay of boxwood or basil pinned behind her right ear. In the early afternoon of the special day, you will find her kneading the Christmas bread. In parts of Bulgaria, she prepares not a few breads: one for the pigs, one for the sheep, etc. On the top of each loaf, she molds figures of the respective animal after which the bread is named.
All foods on Christmas Eve must be meatless and make up an odd number of dishes total (with the traditional numbers being five, seven and nine): sour cabbage rolls with rice; beans; compote (called oshav stewed or dried fruits: plums, apples, pears, orange and lemon); winter squash; banitsa; a plate of honey. It is typical that the family light a candle on top of the Christmas bread and pour one glass of red wine right next to the round loaf. All family members wear socks that the lady of the house has knitted during the weeks of fasting: November 24 until December 24. All relatives gather at home to celebrate even if they normally live abroad or faraway from home.
When the table is festively set with aromatic dishes of delicious food and the family is ready to eat, the oldest male stands up and says a prayer. Then, with the glass of wine and candle in hand, he goes out in the garden and summons Saint Iliya: host of rain and hail. In this way, by welcoming him into his house on a winter night, the oldest male hopes to protect his fields from the saints destructive powers in the summer. As he steps back into the kitchen, he breaks off the first piece of the bread. This piece is dedicated to the households welfare and family health. The next pieces are distributed to all relatives according to their age, starting with the senior males. Then, grandpa goes on breaking up the rest of the round loaves; however, the ones named after the bees and sheep are left untouched: it is a sign of bad luck to break up the wholeness of the herd.
Usually, while kneading the bread, the hostess places kusmeti (small charms) a coin, cornel tree (aka European dogwood, called dryan in Bulgarian) buds or a spike of wheat inside the loaf. When the celebratorty rituals are over and the family starts eating, everyone excitedly digs into his hunk of bread to find his lucky charm for the upcoming year: whether it be money, health or fertility. The hostess might, of course, experiment with other charms as well.
The next morning is Christmas day itself the 25th of December. Bulgarians traditionally have poultry for breakfast the belief is that by eating chicken, in the summer they will complete their chores as smoothly and freely as a soaring bird in the sky. They eat up any leftovers, at this time having permission to eat other meats as well. After breakfast, women take to their cooking responsibilities and men take care of the animals in the barn. A ritual says that at that point the Christmas bread named after the sheep is given to the respective animals. The man is to circle the barn three times and the first sheep to approach him gets the first bite of bread.
Traditionally, at midnight, carolling groups, called koledari, usually made up of 10-15 men dressed in traditional outfits, go around to the houses in the town to welcome in Christmas day. Each group has a leader, called the starets or the stanenik, and a kotka, the youngest member, who runs ahead and alerts households of the groups arrival. The first song to be sung typically is:
Stani nine, gospodine! / Arise now, sir!
Tebe peem, domakine! / (To) you we sing, master of the house!
Dobri sme ti gosti doshli, / We have come as your welcome guests,
dobri gosti, koledari! / good guests, koledari!
Most other songs address family happiness and fruitful harvests. After the songs, the starets pronounces a traditional prayer of thanks:
Ot Boga ti mnogo zdrave, / From God to you much health,
ot nas malko veselbitsa! / from us a little merry-making!
In addition to being gifted with a kravai (ring-shaped bun), the koledari are also given money, meat, slanina (cured lard), beans, flour, wine and more. The carolling concludes with a feast for all those who had received the carollers at their houses.
The carollers visit the village houses again on Christmas morning. This time, though, they sing for a particular craft or member of the family. The hostesses are happy to welcome the jolly guests and bestow them with money, rakiya, wine, fruit or bread. In the end, they all gather in the centre of the village and collect all the loaves they have received. Then, they places bids and the best-looking Christmas bread wins a certain amount of money for its hostess.
At Christmas day lunch and dinner, its then time to bring on the meat dishes, sausages, banitsa, bread, surmi (stuffed grape or cabbage leaves), and sweets made with honey. And, to celebrate and remember the true reason for Christmas, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, everyone goes to church for a special nativity service.
The holidays - all in good fun
Telling stories to your friends back home about outrageous experiences that youve had in Bulgaria is one thing; paying 100 leva for a taxi from Popa to NDK on New Years Eve is another. As such, to help your Christmas and New Years Eve celebrations pass more smoothly, The Sofia Echo has compiled hints from those who have gone before.In Bulgarian tradition, December 24, Christmas Eve, is a quiet day spent with family. While traditions are ever-changing, it is not customary to go out and socialise. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, if you decide you want to go out to a restaurant, pub or cinema, it is best to check first whether they will be working.
Smaller places might be closed between Christmas Eve and January 2.
Because of Bulgarias European Union entry, January 2, at least in 2007, is a public holiday. Its unknown how many places will be working.
