Christmas is drawing closer, and with it – the end of the Advent fast. There are people, even those who do not adhere to the Christian faith, who believe that purification at a physical level – by abstaining from food of animal origin – leads to spiritual elevation.

It is an established fact that Bulgarians obeyed different food and drink restrictions even before their official conversion to Christianity. For example, at certain times in the calendar cycle, food of a certain colour was forbidden, or some fruits could only be eaten around given dates etc.

Even in our day, Christian priests recommend fasting in some cases, outside of the official dates set down in the church calendar. As far as the official fast days are concerned, observing a strict fast is deemed particularly important, it is called trimiri in Bulgarian – when you only drink water, the strictest fast of all being even without water. One such period is from the 20^th to the 24^th of December, and it ends on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day the fast is broken (the word for that in Bulgarian is otgovyavane), and meat, eggs and dairy products are eaten.

Find out more about the meaning of fasting and the traditional practices in Bulgaria from Fasting – a different perspective in our workaday lives and during festive season from Radio Bulgaria’s collection.

Editing by Albena Bezovska