Bulgarian Orthodox Easter is a great time to be in Bulgaria. Some of our Bulgarian friends tells us they prefer the Easter celebrations to Christmas. As it is a largely Orthodox Christian country, along with much of the Balkans. Religion features prominently. In the Easter holiday, and during Holy Week, some Bulgarians attend church every day, but most visit on the night of Holy Saturday.

Velikden is the word for Easter in Bulgaria. It literally means “Great Day”. In fact it is probably the most-celebrated of all the religious celebrations in Bulgaria.

Easter Food Traditions

In Bulgarian Orthodox Easter Church tradition, the Lent Fasting begins on Zagovezni, the Sunday six weeks before Easter. For the 46 days of Lent, church members do not eat animal and fish products and by-products, including butter, cheese, milk, and caviar.

While not a morsel of these delicious treats are eaten before Easter Sunday, yeast-raised cakes and buns in animal shapes and cookie rabbits and flowers are baked during Holy Week. The most important ritual bread is the braided kozunak. It comes in many different flavours. Our favourites are sultana with orange zest and the soft Bulgarian Delight. We have tried many different varieties and even the plain sweet bread is delicious toasted and spread with butter!

On Bulgarian Orthodox Easter Sunday, after 46 days of fasting, a feast of all the prohibited food is spread on the table, with the kozunak, symbolizing the body of Christ, taking center stage. Lamb, represents the Paschal Lamb, is often served.

To see a great video about how to paint Easter eggs Bulgarian-style see here.

Name Day

People called Velichka, Velina, Velika, And Veichko Have Their Name Day On Easter Day. We wish them all an extra special day.

Holy or Maundy Thursday

According to the Bulgarian tradition, on Thursday before Easter (Maundy Thursday) Bulgarians start to color the hard-boiled eggs. The first egg should be coloured in red. With this red coloured hard-boiled egg, the oldest woman, usually the grandmother, makes a sign of the cross on the forehead of the children as a symbol of protection against diseases. This makes their cheeks turn red, like the colour of the egg. Once the first egg is painted red, the other eggs can be painted according to each artist’s desires. Which can give rise to surprising and funny results. 

The red egg is kept until the next Easter. For businesses they should crack the egg kept from the previous year. If there is still a lot of egg inside they will have a good year. If the egg is empty, they should prepare for a lean year. They must then bury the egg in their garden.

Good Friday

Good Friday is the anniversary of the Crucifixion and the day when a table is set up in churches representing Christ’s coffin. The faithful climb underneath in the hopes of having a year full of health and fertility. On Good Friday it is not traditional to colour eggs or to bake kozunak bread.

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday services begin at 11 p.m. Families and friends attend church together, carrying their coloured eggs with them. When the clock strikes midnight, they greet each other with the words Hristos vozkrese (Christ has risen). The response is Voistina vozkrese (Indeed, He has risen).

The priest and the faithful then walk around the church three times with lit candles in hand. The belief is that the candle of anyone who has been a good Christian will not go out no matter how strong the wind blows. I did not realise how hard it is to keep a candle lit when you are walking … or perhaps I am not a good Christian!

Egg Bashing Fun!

After services are over, the all-important “egg fight” or choukane s yaitsa takes place. Opponents smash their eggs into each other. The person with the egg left unbroken is proclaimed the winner or borak. The winning egg is kept until next Easter and is a sign of good luck.

Here you can see Nick playing this game with one of our campers.

Superstitions

Many believe that if someone hears a cuckoo midway during Lent, spring is coming. Likewise, if that person has money in his pocket at the sound of the cuckoo, he will be rich in the coming year, but if he has no money or is hungry, then that is likely how the rest of the year will play out. The campsite has a resident cuckoo, so make sure you have some coins in your pocket if you visit during lent.

To learn more about Bulgarian traditions and celebrations see our #Culture blog posts. Palm Sunday is the week before Easter and is also a great celebration to enjoy in Bulgaria.