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

School for “lazarki” girls opens doors at Etar open-air ethnographic museum

Photo: Etar open-air ethnographic museum

Girls from Gabrovo and the surrounding area started training at the school for “lazarki” girls, BNR’s Velina Mahlebashieva reports. The initiative, which has been helping preserve tradition for 10 years, belongs to the Etar ethnographic open-air museum.

The girls will learn about the rituals connected with Lazarovden, St. Lazarus day, the symbolism of maiden rituals, ritual songs, dances and well-wishing. The beautiful spring festival dedicated to love and fertility falls on the Saturday during the week preceding Easter. On this day the girls will don their best clothes and sing and dance in the same way girls of times past did. According to tradition, these are rituals girls perform before they can marry.



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

In the afternoon, the girls will also visit the Etara Architectural and Ethnographic Complex near the nearby town of Gabrovo.

St Lazarus Day celebrated with traditional lazaruvane in Tryavna

The historic town of Tryavna will celebrate St Lazarus' Day, traditionally held on the Saturday before Palm Sunday. The Bulgarian custom, known as lazaruvane , is closely linked to the themes of love and marriage and will be re-enacted this..

published on 4/11/25 4:50 PM

The cuckoo calls for the first time, animals awaken from their winter sleep on Blagovets

The feast of the Annunciation (Blagoveshtenie in Bulgaria) is a holy day , a symbol of God’s infinite mercy to people and especially to women, blessed to bear new life, but also an embodiment of the eternal human longing for something better in the..

published on 3/25/25 11:05 AM

Masquerade Games Festival is being held in Bulgaria's Stara Zagora

Clocks and bells will ring out in the center of Stara Zagora on Saturday, when the city will host the XXIV Masquerade Games Festival . The event will start with a traditional parade of participants.  Attractive babugers, araps, old men and other..

published on 3/15/25 11:36 AM