{"id":812,"date":"2019-05-10T11:43:44","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T08:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/survakari.com\/en\/?p=812"},"modified":"2019-05-12T12:31:22","modified_gmt":"2019-05-12T09:31:22","slug":"viskiar-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/survakari.com\/en\/2019\/05\/10\/viskiar-village\/","title":{"rendered":"Viskyar Village"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Only at 14 km away from the town of Pernik, on Viskyar\nMontain is located one of the oldest villages in Bulgaria \u2013 Viskyar. There is\nevidence about the existence of this village from the Prehistoric age. Nowadays,\naround 100 primarily older people live there. This is the reason why in the\nlast few decades the masquerade was not performed very often. Young people with\nties to this village took the initiative to restart the tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, one person who really loves Surova, created\ncostumes and masks for the children from the orphanage in the town and gave\nthem the opportunity to join the International festival in Pernik. The mayor of\nViskyar also supported this initiative and this is how the tradition in the\nvillage was restarted. Everybody in the little village was very enthusiastic\nabout this idea and welcomed the children in their homes. The participation increased\nwith time, because the grandchildren of the local population started to join\nthe group. They all retrieved their parents\u2019 old masks and their grandparents\u2019\ntraditional costumes, repaired them and the group was ready. One of the children\nbecame the leader of the group and his grandfather created a special uniform\nfor him. It was similar in style to the one that the\ngrandfather would have worn in his time as a child. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the beginning of the day, the participants in the group\nthought they would visit a few houses in the center of the village and the\ncelebration would be over. They quickly realized that everybody in the village\nexpected and invited them to their homes. Everybody was so happy to celebrate\nand share Surova again that the celebration lasted for hours, and the happiness\nfor days. Only a week later, the same group participated at the International\nmasquerade festival in Pernik and took the prize of the President of the Federation\nof European Carnival Cities (FECC). The following year, the group was invited\nto join the celebration in one of the districts of Pernik, where they were also\nwell received and warmly welcomed by everyone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of this year, all the local\npopulation started to prepare for Surova again. New members joined the group\nand together they all created new masks, new costumes, and bought new bells.\nThe parents were very supportive and even enthusiastic about the idea of Surova.\nAgain, they visited all the homes in the village and stopped in the center of\nthe village where a traditional meal was prepared for all the participants and\nthe guests. The entire local population is very happy and grateful to have this\ntradition as part of their lives again. This is how the traditional New Year\u2019s\nEve, Surova \u2013 celebrated on January 13th<\/sup> \u2013 was reborn for a new\nlife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recorded in 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n