Thousands of cowbells of different sizes and shapes filled the streets of Yambol with chiming, jingling and ringing at the 25th International Masquerade Festival "Kukerlandia". 

Згдшд 

More than two thousand mummers - called kukeri, sourvakari, babugeri, camillari, etc. - showed the richness of the masquerade rite from all over Bulgaria. Nearly 50 groups of mummers took part in the parade. 

They were judged by a jury of folklorists, ethnologists, ethnographers and choreographers. 

"The groups should stick to the authenticity of the tradition and not rely on attractiveness and cultural engineering," urged Dr Iglika Mishkova of the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Women and children have no place in these rituals, which are typically only for men, she explained.  "If we go into this role reversal, we would really expect to see men as lazarki (a wedding tradition for women only - ed)," Mishkova added.