Lazaritsa, Lazarovden, Lazarus’s Saturday are all names of the feast celebrated eight days ahead of Easter. The church marks the Resurrection of Lazarus and in the folklore calendar this time of the year is dedicated to the socialization of young girls. The custom is called Lazaruvane and is among the most vivid and vigorous traditions having survived for long centuries. In the past Lazarki girls would meet in the home of one of the women in the village – an experienced singer who knew ritual songs well enough. They would learn various melodies to sing during their tour of the community. The ritual is very much alive today though in a simplified version.

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• Lazarki girls come down the village performed by the women’s folklore group from Svidnya and Svoge, Sofia region

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The girls willing to join Lazaruvane celebrations go to the community center of the village to receive folk costumes and song lyrics. Browsing in social networks one will come across announcements inviting girls to take part in traditional festivities. These are posted by community centers, leaders of amateur groups and teachers from various towns and villages who volunteer to keep Bulgarian folklore alive.

The ritual of Lazaruvane is a living tradition in the village of Mirovyane, today a suburb of the city of Sofia. The village emerged at the bottom of a lake in the ample Sofia field. Found ten kilometers away from the capital its population comes to about 1350. One of its youngest residents is 14-year-old Kristina Anastasova. She studies at the Ilia Petrov National School of Fine Art in Sofia. She tells us that she loves her native village dearly and that one of its most wonderful places in it is the community club – offering training in the arts and in folklore traditions. Thanks to the skills that she has learned there Kristina saw her first big dream come true – she was admitted to a leading high school that trains professional artists. This year the young artist is going to join Lazaruvane celebrations for a sixth year in a row.

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• Lazarus girls’ songs performed by the women’s folklore group from Svidnya and Svoge, Sofia region

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The folklore group has no recordings of its Lazarus songs yet but girls stick to melodies and lyrics typical of the Western Bulgarian Shoppe region.

When she joins Lazaruvane festivities Kristina and her fellow Lazarus girls put coats over the folk costumes – in case the weather is cold. Sometimes they wear sports shoes, again due to bad weather. On certain occasions they may wear artificial flowers on their heads. What matters though is that the essence of the ritual is preserved – youth and beauty has visited the community’s homes to bring best wishes for happiness and wellbeing.

English Daniela Konstantinova

Photos: private library