Holidays and Traditions

Public holidays

• 1 January – New Year
• 3 March – Liberation Day, the National Day
• Easter – by the Orthodox calendar, usually on a different date from the Catholic one
• 1 May – Labour Day
• 6 May – St George’s Day, the Day of Bravery and the Armed Forces
• 24 May – Day of the Alphabet, Education and Culture
• 6 September – Unification Day
• 22 September – Independence Day
• 24–26 December – Christmas

Also, 1 November, the Day of the National Revival Leaders, is a holiday for schools and universities.

Traditions

• Martenitsa (1 March) – red-and-white threads for health. You wear them until you see a stork or a tree in blossom, then tie them to a branch. In March all the trees in Sofia look like Christmas trees.
• Kukeri – masked men with enormous bells chase away evil spirits at the start of the year. The Surva festival in Pernik is the largest of its kind in Europe.
• Nestinari – in the Strandzha Mountains people dance barefoot on glowing embers. It is on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
• Trifon Zarezan (14 February) – the winegrowers’ holiday. The competition with St Valentine is fair: love or wine. Most Bulgarians choose both.
• St George’s Day (6 May) – lamb, swings and festive feasts. The worst day of the year for lambs.