A simpler way of life
Easter in Bulgaria is nothing like the commercialised tradition that we associate with Easter in England. You won’t find the aisles of over priced chocolate eggs that appear as early as January here. A strongly orthodox country, the onus here is on the religious aspect rather than the’ rites of spring’. And our Easter eggs are home-made!
Easter, or ‘Velik Den’ as it is pronounced over here, means Great Day. Unlike England, Easter in Bulgaria occurs in accordance with the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar. So Easter this year (2021) is on the 2nd May.
Customs and traditions
Traditions here are much more central to everyday life than England, and Easter in Bulgaria is no exception. The holy week is preceded by a six week long fast called “The Great Fast” during which Christians are expected to abstain from certain kinds of foods. Though many people no longer adhere to this tradition, this is still a very religious country, and most people attend church on a number of occasions over the Easter period.
The Holy Week itself begins with Palm Sunday when church goers can be seen walking the streets carrying palm or pussy willow branches. Each day of the week is known as ‘great’ Great Monday, Great Friday, etc
On Easter Saturday evening people attend church. At exactly midnight, the priest proclaims “Christ is risen!” The church bells start ringing and people greet each other with “Hristos voskrese” (Christ has risen) to which they reply “Voistino voskrese” (Indeed, he has risen). Having attended one such service, I can testify to how powerful the Service was.
Painting Eggs
Easter in Bulgaria is celebrated by the production of homemade eggs. The Easter eggs must be painted on Great Thursday or Great Saturday. Good Friday as we know it, is reserved for resting and attending church services. The eggs are painted in a variety of colours, but the most important colour is red. There are various traditions, founded in folklore, as to why this is. But the most prevalent I have come across is that red represents the blood of Jesus.
Nowadays, you can purchase an array of egg decorating sets in most supermarkets. Along with some crafty stick ons to decorate them. However, the traditional way is to use natural dyes such as beetroot for red, onion shells for yellow, nettles for green. If people are very artistic, then they may use wax to create designs on the eggs before dying them.
The tradition goes that when the first red egg is ready, it is time to make the sign of the cross on the cheeks or forehead of the family’s firstborn child.
These rituals ensure good health for the little ones, all the year round. To give the due respect to seniors, the family leaves the most elderly woman in the household to do the painting, the cross sign and the rubbing. Then the first red egg has is then placed in front of the home icon, where it remains for the rest of they year.
The rest of the eggs are used in an ‘egg fight’ – please see my video. The winner is the person with the strongesegg.
Traditional cooking
Lamb is a traditional food on the Bulgarian Easter table as with the Jewish passover. Easter salad is another firm favourite. Kozunak bed (a cross between brioche and hot cross buns in my opinion) is an essential part of a Bulgarian Easter. I will give recipes in the recipe section of my blog.