Kukeri!

So over the long weekend I took the long trip back out to the beautiful Rodopi mountains. This time I traveled to the village of Shiroka Luka (about 10km from the place I went to last time), in which is located a famous folk music school. Also located there is an annual Kukeri festival, which was the main draw for the weekend, turning this sleepy mountain town of about 500 into a churning madhouse of music, dancing, and scary men running around in costumes threatening people with wooden swords.

There’s a logical explanation for all this, dating back through the ages. The closest tradition I can think of would be Halloween, which of course started as a way to scare away bad spirits. Similarly, the men behind the Kukeri masks (bizarre, hairy, freakishly tall costumes) come out and do everyone a favor every year and scare away all the bad spirits that might be lurking around just in time for spring.

The way they do it is at once terrifying (mission accomplished) and sometimes hilarious. The entry starts with the far off sound of bells being clanged together as the Kukeris rhythmically jump closer and closer. Finally, they're in the middle of the center and doing their dance in a circle and chanting, seemingly in a trance. Then the real fun starts - the Kukeri begin doing their duty and scaring the daylights out of any spirits who dare to get in the way, usually by dancing. Many of the groups had costumed manifestations of the bad spirits to illustrate that they were indeed being scared away. Included among these personifications of evil were a golden idol, impish demons, cross-dressers, and a group of lost backpackers (seriously).

The festival concluded with the costumed men triumphantly going back to the places from which they came, now loaded with wishes of “Zhiv I Zdrav” (Life and Health) from the mayor of the town and the appreciative crowd. Now that the demons had all successfully been exorcised, it was (of course) time to dance, and a 4 hour long horo commenced in the center almost immediately.

Other highlights of the weekend included a concert at the famous folklore school the day before the festival. The dancing was mind-blowingly good, and the music eardrum-blowing (but still quite impressive). It was, however, great to see what the place there is all about, and there is a lot of talent coming out of the little school. It’s also nice to see that the Bulgarians are committed to preserving the great folklore tradition in the country instead of just succumbing to the onslaught of chalga and Katie Perry. It was also, as always, nice to be with friends, and we met some new friends as well – members of the EU version of the Peace Corps (EVS – European Volunteer Service).

I promise to you that I took a ton of pictures and video. However I discovered upon returning to my place in Preslav that my camera had mysteriously broken. I’m sending it to a repair guy, but I still have the card on which all the pics are located, so hopefully I can get those out to you soon. However, it might also take up to a month, so be patient. They’re coming eventually, along with a stream of other updates… I promise!

Until next time...