Bulgaria: Over 10,000 Kukeri from the Balkans Chase Away Evil at the Surva Festival in Pernik (PHOTOS)
The 29th International Festival of Masquerade Games "Surva" begins in Pernik. It is held under the patronage of President Rumen Radev and with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and the National Culture Fund. The "Surva" festival is the oldest festival of masquerade games in Bulgaria and one of the largest in Europe. President Rumen Radev attended the official opening yesterday.
For Pernik residents, "Surva" is like a religion, and the festival is the most awaited and largest event of the year.
The "Surva" custom and the masquerade tradition have been alive for thousands of years. Several thousand people from the Pernik region alone participate, says ethnologist Tsvetana Manova:
"Each of these several thousand prepares his or her own mask at home without showing it. Thus, the final result is a unique phenomenon - several thousand works of folk applied art. This is truly an unprecedented miracle, a miracle unseen in the world".
"Behind these scary masks are the smiles of many Pernik residents, secondly - of many guests who will come to our town. The energy that will be created and the attitudes of the people are for a purification. Let's reduce this envy, this malice, yes a significant beginning was made for a better Bulgaria, for a more united Bulgaria. As Pernik reisdents, in recent years we have shown it in a number of crises - that we can be together, that we can be in solidarity in various crises. And this festival, I am sure, that it can unite many people", added the mayor of Pernik, Stanislav Vladimirov.
Due to the record number of participants - over 10,000 people, for the first time they will be held during all three festival days. 158 masquerade groups will participate in the festival. 15...
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