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

Kukeri festival in Shiroka Luka to banish evil and bring health and prosperity

Photo: Smolyan Municipality

The Kukeri Festival in Shiroka Laka, traditionally held on the first Sunday of March, marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Accompanied by the sound of bells and cowbells, a ritual is performed to ward off evil.

On this day local masked dancers, kukeri - called pessyatsi - visit people's homes to bring good health and prosperity. They then go to the village square where they perform a wedding ritual for the bride and the elder, re-enacting birth, ploughing and sowing. It is believed that if a pessyak jumps over you, you will have a good year.


On the eve of the holiday, concerts and performances by amateur artists are organised - an exhibition of children's drawings of Kukeri, as well as plays and poetry recitals on the occasion of the National Day on 3 March. There will be a concert by students from the National School of Folk Arts in Shiroka Laka.

The Kukeri Festival is organised by the Municipality of Smolyan, the Town Hall of Shiroka Laka and the People's Community Centre "Exarch Stefan - 1872".



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

The еthnographic еxhibition “Sunken Heritage” raises serious environmental questions

In the early 1960s, it was concluded that Bulgaria’s water resources were insufficient to meet the needs of agriculture. As a result, large-scale construction of artificial water reservoirs began across the country.   Between 1950 and 1985,..

published on 5/13/25 2:23 PM

Students from Bulgaria and the USA set out to trace Bulgarian-Americans

Bulgarian students from both Bulgaria and the USA embarked on a journey to trace the history of Bulgarian-Americans, spending two years researching the story of Bulgarian emigration to America. Their efforts have been documented in the film “In the..

published on 5/12/25 3:10 PM

Royal symbols from the Second Bulgarian Kingdom adorn sgraffito pottery by the new master craftsmen

There is a special workshop for pottery - of the royal kind – used by the boyar families from the time of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (12 th – 14 th C.) in what was once the capital of Bulgaria – Veliko Tarnovo. The workshop is located at the..

published on 5/12/25 1:10 PM