From Thracian to Bulgarian:

Many people think Bulgaria is a subordinated country, but it certainly isn’t! On the contrary. Bulgaria is a country that’s growing all the time. The economic situation too is developing time by time. The Bulgarian economy is a topic already mentioned by Lisa. For the few days we’re in this beautiful country, we like to taste some Bulgarian cultural life.

In the same way as Turkey, Bulgaria is a crossroad between Europe and Asia. Furthermore “the country has been populated since antiquity,” which means that they have a quite impressive history! But what can be understood as a Eurasian population?  That’s a question I like to find out… Bulgaria has been inhabited  by many different nations. From Romans to Slavs. They all belong to the Bulgarian cultural heritage. Moreover, the country has been influenced by Greek, Persian and Celtic habits. In fact we can say that the Bulgarian population exists of a mixture of different kinds of cultures and cultural influences.

Now, we already know that Bulgaria is a very cultural country, so I can’t write this blog post without mentioning the local traditions. Believe me, there are a lot of them! I take off with a tradition that we know as a proverb. “To sit on hot coals” is a saying we all heard of. But in some Bulgarian villages, certainly in the Balkan Mountains it’s a living reality. Yet almost… In fact, they don’t sit on these hot coals, but they dance on it! These people are called “Fire Dancers”. Another striking tradition are the Mummer games. This is an ancient habit held by masked and costumed men on New Year’s Eve. Their ritual dances have the intention to chase the bad spirits away so they can start the new year with a lot of positive energy.

One of the most important components of Bulgarian culture is folk music. This music is made by a wide range of traditional instruments giving the music an own and unique sound! A famous Bulgarian folksong is the “horo”. The instruments used for this kind of music are: fiddle, mandolin, the” kaval” (flute), the “gaida” (bagpipe) and the “dvoyanka” (double pipe).

I hope you learned something more about the Bulgarian habits and all what has to do about it.
I won’t hesitate to answer some questions or comments, so feel comfortable to leave something behind.

Jorick Verschraegen
Bulgaria week 6 (culture)

Source: http://bulgariatravel.org/en/dynamic_page/78