Lobosh village is part of Kovachevtsi\nmunicipality. It is located next to Rudina Mountain at only 30 km from the town\nof Pernik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The population of the village is only\n120 people now and around 15-20 of them are young and enthusiastic about the\ntradition of Surva. The biggest parts of the masquerade group are young people\nwho live and work in the cities, but they still come return to the village.\nThey often visit their parents and relatives during the holidays and Surva is\nstill the best time of the year for all of them. Everybody in the village collects bird\nfeathers, leather pieces and tree bark during the year in anticipation of the\nnew masks they will start to create in October. For one of the mask creators, this\nhas become a hobby that is practiced yearlong. Naturally, the most enthusiastic\nof the group are the children. They don\u2019t allow the adults to mask themselves\nand participate in Surva without bringing them along.A few decades ago\nthe children were not allowed to join the masquerade group but nowadays they\nare warmly welcomed, the same could be said for the women. Since they started\nallowing women and children the Lobosh masquerade group is now consistently\naround 50 people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day before January 13th<\/sup>,\na few young men collect wood from the mountain and they prepare the fire at the\ncenter of the village. Everybody enjoys the masquerade dancing around the fire during\nthe night. The participants in the group put on their costumes, made with\ncolorful fabrics, their masks and the heavy bells to be ready for the\ncelebration around the fire. The locals and the visitors, are all very welcomed to join the celebrations.\nThey can \u201cfight\u201d with the bear or join the \u201cwedding ceremony\u201d or the special\ndance of the masquerade group. This holiday is an incredible experience for all\nthe people involved or observing. The masquerade groups of the neighboring\nvillages of Elov dol, Chepino, Svetlia, Peshtera often attend the celebration\nin Lobosh. Every year, one of the locals prepares dinner for all the masquerade\ngroup. Some years, after the celebration in the village, the masquerade group\nvisits other nearby villages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the morning of January 14th, the\nmasquerade group visits all the houses in the village and they wish good luck\nand lots of health for the new year to all the members of the village. They are\nwarmly welcomed in every house. The leader of the group, \u201cthe bride and the\ngroom\u201d and the \u201cpriest\u201d enter in the house, and the masked people with the\nbells rest in the yard and practice their special Surva dance. The hosts are\nvery generous and give so many presents to the group that they need a car to\ncollect everything. The leader once said: \u201cthe number of people in the village\nhas decreased, but the volume of the\npresents for the group has grown every year. Surva is our shared love\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recorded in 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n