ZHERAVNA, Bulgaria -- With no cell phones in sight, tens of thousands of people danced through the night after the Zheravna festival reached its fire-circling crescendo on August 19.
The main thoroughfare through the Zheravna Festival on August 19
The International Folk Costume Festival in Zheravna, a village in eastern Bulgaria, has been held every year since 2008 -- with strict conditions.
Signs reminding festivalgoers of the ban on devices
No cameras or cell phones are allowed to be used in the festival grounds, and entry is only permitted to people dressed in some form of traditional or historic clothing.
A couple rests in the shade between dances.
Despite -- or perhaps because of -- the stringent rules, the event has become one of the most popular summer festivals in the Balkans. Organizers say around 25,000 people took part this year, the highest participation in the festival’s history.
Evgeni Chakarov
On a hill on the edge of the festival, Evgeni Chakarov says the event is “the most Bulgarian thing in Bulgaria.”
His uniform, pieced together over several years, cost him around $2,000, he says.
Chakarov is from the Bulgarian city of Varna, but wears a traditional Macedonian outfit because, he says, “It’s my favorite of all the national costumes.”
Daniel and Ivan from Sofia dressed as hajduks -- Christian irregulars who fought against the Ottoman authorities throughout Central and Eastern Europe from the 1500s.
As well as restrictions on food and cameras, no plastic is allowed in the festival grounds.
A woman in traditional Bulgarian costume
Festival organizers say those hoping to attend must prepare for “total detachment from civilization for three days, and a return to the fundamental roots” of Bulgarian culture.
A father and daughter at a stall displaying historical weapons. Some of the guns at the stall saw action in the Russo-Turkish war and other conflicts on Bulgarian soil.
A man at a stall selling handmade knives.
Musicians play in the center of a circle of dancers.
The event’s calendar featured a list of events held over three days this year from August 18-20, including contests for best uniforms and a display from Bulgaria’s fire-walking Nestinaris.
But the climax of the event was the lighting of a giant bonfire on August 19.
A man holds a Bulgarian flag ahead of the bonfire lighting on August 19.
Thousands of people linked arms and danced traditional line dances until just after 10 p.m., when a somber torchlight procession paid tribute to those who had died for Bulgaria throughout history. The torches were then tossed, one by one, onto the bonfire.
Crowds watch the bonfire grow.
Valentin Vasilev, who was inside the festival with his girlfriend, Lilyana Tvanova, told RFE/RL that the massive dance around the bonfire was “incredible. You only get this energy here, once a year.”
Rings of dancers circle the bonfire as traditional music is performed from the main stage of the event (bottom right).
Linking arms with thousands of strangers during the firelight dance, Vasilev said, “felt like being part of a chain of energy that goes all the way back to our ancestors.”