The St. George the Victorious monastery in Pomorie has always attracted the people and the guests to the town, and the days around 6 May, Gergyovden or St. George’s day are invariably packed with a host of different events.

Legend has it that in the 19^th century, in what are today monastery lands, there lived a rich merchant, SelimBey, who built a big farm. But SelimBey suffered from a serious malady. A prophetic dream by one of his farmhands, Neno revealed the location of a spring whose water had curative properties. While digging for the spring, he found a marble bas-relief of St. George. Thanks to the curative water, SelimBey was miraculously cured. Brimming with joy, he converted to Christianity, along with his entire family. And next to the “holy spring” SelimBey built a small chapel that laid the beginning of what is today a monastery.

The Thracian fair, called Gergiovden (St. George’s day) takes place in the vicinity of the St. George monastery, in a residential area also called St. George, where the “Svetlina (light) – 1939” community culture club has an open-air stage. The idea to organize fairs belongs to the Thracian Society in the town and the community culture club management. Here is more from Elena Mourdjeva, chairperson of Pomorie’s Thracian Society:

“It gives me much pleasure to remember how 14 years ago, the Thracian Society came up with the idea of organizing a fair in Pomorie. The beginning was not easy, our first steps were so timid, because in Pomorie no such tradition existed. Now I am happy to say there is a great deal of interest in the event with the number of participants growing each year. And the best thing is that the people who come here love folk music. It is such a pleasure to have folk music performed all these years here, in our beautiful town by the sea. We have been preparing for the fair for a long time. And we are expecting to wake up on the morning of May 4 to folk music that will sound throughout the day. The programme for the day of Pomoriefeatures a great many events, of which the Thracian Fair is but one. We have 100 participants registered to date – from our region but also from all over Bulgaria. According to the rules of participation, one of the songs has to be an Easter or a St. George’s day song. It is such a delight to be able to listen to such songs and such music coming from different corners of Bulgaria throughout the day. We would sincerely like to thank the monastery administration – for their support and for the respect they have shown to the fair since the very outset, as well as for the prize money they provide for the award-winning participants. The fair was also made possible with the help of Pomorie municipality, as well as the people from the “Svetlina (light) – 1939” community culture club.”

English version: Milena Daynova