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

Бял бряст

Two 200-year old trees granted protected status

Minister of the Environment and Water Manol Genov has granted two centuries-old trees – each of which approximately 200 years old – protected status, the ministry has announced. One of them, a European white elm (Ulmus laevis), is 24 metres tall..

published on 11/9/25 2:30 PM

The way to a Bulgarian’s heart is through… pickles

Everyone knows that as soon as temperatures start going down it is pickle-making season. Making preserves at home is a time-honoured and widespread tradition in this country, and, in this season, practically every family in Bulgaria sets about making..

published on 11/8/25 11:05 AM

Responsibility, Unity and Security – German impulses for the future of Europe

Under the motto "Responsibility, Unity and Security" on November 5 and 6, 2025, a German-Bulgarian seminar for journalists and public figures was held in the Hyatt Regency Sofia Hotel. The organizers were the European Academy in..

published on 11/7/25 4:05 PM