Learn about the top five most important dates in Bulgaria
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yuri: What are we going to be talking about today? |
| Iva: The top five most important holy days in Bulgaria. |
| Yuri: How are we going to choose among so many? |
| Iva: It's true that Bulgaria does have many holidays. |
| Yuri: Hundreds. |
| Iva: But there are a few that are more important than the others. |
| Yuri: Well then, let's get to it. |
Lesson focus |
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| Iva: We'll go in reverse order. |
| Yuri: Number 5... |
| Iva: The fifth most important day in Bulgaria is “Великден”, Easter. |
| Yuri: The Bulgarian Easter day changes its date every year. |
| Iva: In Bulgarian it is called “Великден”. It means "Great Day." |
| Yuri: Bulgarians have traditional society and Christian celebrations are very important throughout the year. |
| Iva: Maybe because that is the time for the family to gather, eat a lot of delicious food, and think about the valuable things in life. |
| Yuri: The Bulgarian good luck crack is a unique Easter tradition in Bulgaria. Bright colored eggs are cracked during the festive season of Easter. |
| Iva: People take turns in tapping their eggs against other's eggs. The person who ends up with the last unbroken egg is believed to have a year of good luck. |
| Yuri: Number four... |
| Iva: The fourth most important day in Bulgaria is “Коледа”, Christmas. |
| Yuri: Bulgarian Christmas is the same day, December 25th, as every other country in the world. |
| Iva: “Коледа” is a Christian holiday meant to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of all Christian religions. Traditionally, “Коледа” is more for family and most of the people stay home. |
| Yuri: Bulgarians celebrate Christmas in many ways. Many families have a large, traditional “наядка”, "supper," late Christmas Eve, which is often continued on the 25th with a family lunch. |
| Iva: For the most part, the food is prepared according to the fasting tradition, but plenty of vegetable dishes make a colorful and tasty dinner. |
| Yuri: Again, the tradition also involves hiding a coin in the loaf of Christmas bread. The person who finds the coin can also expect good luck in the year to follow. |
| Iva: Traditionally, Bulgarians celebrate Christmas for three consecutive days — 25th, 26th, and 27th. |
| Yuri: They stay up late on the 24th after the big dinner, and on the next day, people can greet each other with “Весела Коледа!”, "Merry Christmas." |
| Iva: Number three... |
| Yuri: The third most important day in Bulgaria is “Нова година”, New Year. |
| Iva: In fact, New Year celebrations in Bulgaria are more prominent and grander than Christmas celebrations, which are comparatively silent. |
| Yuri: Traditionally, “Нова година” is less about family and more about society as a whole. Many people go out with friends, go to parties, and have community events. |
| Iva: After the New Year's speech of the country's president, all Bulgarians start preparing for midnight celebrations. |
| Yuri: Traditionally, as soon as the church bell rings twelve, all the firecrackers are blown away in union to form an implausible scene over the Bulgarian sky. |
| Iva: Yes. It is followed by exchange of wishes and good luck for the coming year. People say, “Честита Нова година!”, which means "Happy New Year!" |
| Yuri: Number two... |
| Iva: The second most important day in Bulgaria is 24th of May, the day of education and culture and the Slavonic literature. |
| Yuri: This is also, of course, the day of saints Cyril and Methodius. |
| Iva: It is a national holiday celebrating Bulgarian culture and literature as well as the Cyrillic alphabet. |
| Yuri: On the 24th of May, all the Bulgarian schools celebrate with cultural programs, lots of flowers, and traditional folklore songs and dances. It's a holiday of spiritual rising, perfection striving for scientific and cultural achievements |
| Iva: And number one... |
| Yuri: The most important day in Bulgaria is March 3rd, the Liberation Day, the day of the founding of the principality of Bulgaria. |
| Iva: This is a national holiday in Bulgaria. |
| Yuri: By tradition, on March 3rd, thousands of people go to the Shipka Peak in the Stara Planina Mountain to honor the memory of Bulgarian volunteers and Russian soldiers who fought for Bulgaria's freedom. Throughout the day, people of all generations climb the stairs to the monument carrying the national flag standing on top of the hill. |
| Iva: That's right. This is a day of celebration of freedom and independence, and many Bulgarians consider items with the pattern of the Bulgarian national flags an honor to wear, display, and use on any patriotic occasions. |
Outro |
| Yuri: So with that, we've covered the five most important holidays in Bulgaria. |
| Iva: We hope you have a chance to visit Bulgaria during one of these holidays so that you can experience it for yourself. |
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