Bulgarians celebrate a holdiay on March 1st called Baba Marta (grandmother March). On this day everyone gives their friends and family little pins or bracelets made out of red and white string called martenitsi. You wear all the martinitsi you recieve (either pinned on your shirt by he collar or on your wrist) until you see your first stork or your first flowering fruit tree. By giving someone a martinitsa you are wishing them health and happiness and also welcoming the Spring. The legend is that Baba Marta can sometimes be an angry woman and the red and white colors please her so she brings spring sooner. Here's a webpage if you would like to read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MartenitsaToday we had a workshop to make martenitsi. A little baba came and told us the story of Baba Marta and showed us how to fashion the martenitsi. There have been street vendors selling bunches of these all over town for the past week.
Me attempting to make a martenitsa bracelet.
My Bulgarian friends Yavor and Maya. They were pros.
Bracelet martenitsi
Martenitsi you pin on your shirt (or backpack)
2 comments:
Is the same tradition also in Romania.This is a pre-christians traditions and celebrate springtimes.In Romania have over 2000 years old !!!
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