Beautiful lazarki and vibrant spring spirit at the Etar Ethnographic Museum

Young girls dressed in colorful traditional costumes will once again stroll along the cobblestones of the Regional Ethnographic Open-Air Museum Etar near Gabrovo, filling the air with songs and dances, offering blessings for health and well-being. Girls from Tryavna and Gabrovo will perform the Lazaruvane ritual on Saint Lazarus Day (Lazarovden).

“You will recognize them by their songs. You will follow them by their dances. And you will remember them by their smiles”, the ethnographic museum assures in its invitation to the event, which is a true celebration of youth, spring and beauty.

This beautiful celebration, dedicated to love and fertility, always takes place on the Saturday in the week before Easter. In the past, Bulgarians used to say that “a girl who has not taken part in the Lazaruvane ritual is not a true maiden,” which is why the custom serves as a rite of initiation.

For years, the team at the ethnographic museum near Gabrovo has been dedicated to preserving this beautiful spring tradition by organizing a special school for Lazarki. This gives young girls from the region a unique opportunity to learn the symbolism of the songs and rituals for the day and to perform them in the most authentic way during the celebration of Saint Lazarus Day, held at the Regional Ethnographic Open-Air Museum Etar.

Read also:

• School for “lazarki” girls - an amazing experience at Bulgaria’s Etar Museum

Edited by Tsvetana Toncheva

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov