ПРОГРАМИ
en de ru fr es sr gr al tr ro
Podcast in English
Share
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Bulgarians in Bessarabia keep the tradition of a special game with Easter eggs

Photo: Private archive

Games where the main character is the egg are probably not very many. In Germany, for example, on Easter, families visit the church, and then children look for eggs in the garden, hidden by the Easter bunny - a symbol of fertility. If we look for information, however, we will find a less popular tradition preserved in the territory of today's Bessarabia, where many ethnic Bulgarians live.

"All the eggs are placed on a line - one by each participant. Then, with a tennis ball, the participant tries to push an egg out of the frame in which they are enclosed. Each egg that comes out is a trophy for the one who hit it. The game took place in the street, and a bed of sand and earth was made for each egg, in which it could stand straight," the ethnographer from Moldova Galina Manolova told us.


"When I wrote about this game, I was sure that it still existed, and what was my surprise when it turned out that the game was completely lost! I found that it was known not only in my native village of Kairaklia, but also in the surrounding, mainly Bulgarian villages", clarifies Galina Manolova. "I was looking for materials to see if this is not a Moldovan, Ukrainian or Russian loanword, but this game is observed only among Bulgarians."

On Easter with the Bulgarians in Moldova, we have an interesting publication from the collection of Radio Bulgaria, in which you can hear the researcher's story about the almost forgotten Easter game of our compatriots in Bessarabia and her wish for more peace and light in our souls:

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.
Radio Bulgaria Life    Bessarabia Easter Easter eggs Moldova

More from category

The Rhodope village of Momchilovtsi is showcasing Bulgarian yoghurt in Shanghai

A clay pot and a wooden bucket from the village of Momchilovtsi are part of an exhibition at the Milk Museum, which has just opened in Shanghai , the village's mayor, Siika Surkova, told the Bulgarian news agency BTA.  Representatives of the..

published on 10/2/25 5:01 PM
Vladimir Kefalov, PhD

Bulgarian biophysicist Vladimir Kefalov honoured by Boston University

Bulgarian scientist Dr. Vladimir Kefalov has been awarded a prestigious alumni prize by Boston University’s Graduate Medical Sciences Faculty, the Bulgarian Consulate in Los Angeles announced on Facebook, cited by BTA. “This recognition by Boston..

published on 10/1/25 3:55 PM

Bulgarian high school students win four medals at the Balkan Olympiad in Informatics

The Association of Olympic Teams in Natural Sciences announced on Wednesday that Bulgarian high school students had won a gold, a silver and two bronze medals at the 32nd Balkan Olympiad in Informatics , which was held in Udine, Italy. The Bulgarian..

published on 10/1/25 2:09 PM

WEATHER
Pick city: Sofía
Rain
Min: 3 | Max: 5
Rain
Min: 13 | Max: 19
Rain
Min: 11 | Max: 18
Rain
Min: 5 | Max: 8
Rain / Snow
Min: 2 | Max: 4
Rain
Min: 6 | Max: 8
Rain / Snow
Min: 2 | Max: 5
Rain
Min: 6 | Max: 10
Rain
Min: 9 | Max: 12
Rain / Snow
Min: 3 | Max: 5
Rain
Min: 4 | Max: 7
Rain / Snow
Min: 3 | Max: 6
Rain
Min: 8 | Max: 9
Rain / Snow
Min: 2 | Max: 5
Rain
Min: 5 | Max: 8
Rain
Min: 8 | Max: 10
Rain
Min: 5 | Max: 7
Rain
Min: 7 | Max: 9
Rain
Min: 6 | Max: 9
Rain
Min: 8 | Max: 11
Rain / Snow
Min: 2 | Max: 3
Rain / Snow
Min: 2 | Max: 5
Rain
Min: 9 | Max: 11
Rain
Min: 5 | Max: 7
Rain
Min: 9 | Max: 11
Rain
Min: 7 | Max: 10
Rain
Min: 8 | Max: 11
BULGARIA IN PICTURES
Which world-famous Bulgarian artist designed QSL cards for Radio Bulgaria?
Yasen Gyuzelev
Theodore Ushev
Christo Javacheff - Christo
Ilia Peikov
Lika Yanko

BULGARIANS ABROAD

Български English Русский Deutsch Српски Français Ελληνικά Español Shqip Türkçe Română
MOST VIEWED

Bulgarian biophysicist Vladimir Kefalov honoured by Boston University

Bulgarian scientist Dr. Vladimir Kefalov has been awarded a prestigious alumni prize by Boston University’s Graduate Medical Sciences Faculty, the..

published on 10/1/25 3:55 PM

Bulgarian high school students win four medals at the Balkan Olympiad in Informatics

The Association of Olympic Teams in Natural Sciences announced on Wednesday that Bulgarian high school students had won a gold, a silver and two bronze..

published on 10/1/25 2:09 PM

The Rhodope village of Momchilovtsi is showcasing Bulgarian yoghurt in Shanghai

A clay pot and a wooden bucket from the village of Momchilovtsi are part of an exhibition at the Milk Museum, which has just opened in Shanghai , the..

published on 10/2/25 5:01 PM

english@bnr.bg

+359 2 9336 661

Общи условия за използване на сайта | Политика за поверителност | Политика за "бисквитки"