Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

A dragon wedding and sparkling wine tasting on Trifon Zarezan festival in the village of Delchevo

Photo: BGNES - archive

After a two-year break, the traditional Trifon Zarezan wine festival is organized again in the village of Delchevo. 
On Saturday 4 February, dozens of wine and brandy producers are welcome to the village at the foot of Pirin Mountain, to present their best selection. Wine makers from the Greek region of Drama are also coming back to the take part in the winemaker competition.The culmination of the feast is on 5 February /Sunday/, when everyone goes to the vineyard in the Bair ("the hill") area to take part in the ritual first pruning of the vines, after which the vines are ceremonially watered with wine
The big celebration takes place in the village square of Delchevo. Kukeri ethnographic groups from the nearby village of Mosomishte perform, but the most interesting part is the reenactment of the local dragon (zmey) weddingKukeri
An ancient legend says that the village of Delchevo was the lair of a zmey who took the most beautiful maiden of the village as his wife, in exchange for which he protected the village from evil forces and the elements.  To this day, Delchevo keeps the legend alive and twice a year recreates the story of the dragon and the beautiful bride.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

‘Mission Water’ brings EU researchers together in Burgas

A meeting titled  “Mission Water”  is taking place today at Burgas State University “Prof. Dr Assen Zlatarov”. The event gathers researchers involved in the European Union’s  Mission “Restore Our Ocean and Waters”  under the European Commission,..

published on 10/23/25 7:35 AM

Trust in public media - the key to their existence

How to preserve and maintain public trust in media - this is the central topic for participants in the Public Broadcasters International (PBI) 2025 Annual Conference, which is taking place in Sofia. The event, organized..

published on 10/22/25 1:58 PM

Flamenco, Beethoven and art light up Vidin for its patron saint’s day.

From today until 28 October, Vidin will transform into a cultural hub to celebrate its patron saint's day - St Dimitar's Day (Dimitrovden). The new festival, “October Arts Days”, features a rich programme combining music, theatre, visual arts, and..

published on 10/22/25 9:05 AM