The Road is Before Us: Surva - a Bulgarian spectacle

Today was awesome. It was also fully Bulgarian, and this post will not really do it justice, but I need to try. We have a 3-day weekend to cap off our flu-vacation, and we decided to stay local. Shannon is still recovering from the swine flu, and there are some corners of Bulgaria we still want to explore.
The city of Pernik is ugly. Really, really "gosh, I actually need to take a picture of that" ugly. It's an old coal-mining town about a 35 minute drive southwest of campus, and it is known for, among other things, decaying (but not entirely abandoned) industry and power plants.

Rusty "Skybar" in Pernik

Not-totally-abandoned factory (power plant?) in Pernik

Sounds like a great destination for a 3-day weekend, right? Pernik is also home to the annual "Surva" festival of masquerade games. This is the 20th one, andthe tradition goes back to the 1960s (it used to be biannual, but it has grown in popularity so much that now they do it every January). The games come out of pagan history and are a sort of New Year's festival, wishing for a good harvest, fertility, health, etc.The fun part is that people (men, mostly, but more and more women/children) dress up in crazy costumes (supposed to be monsters) to scare away the evil spirits for the new year.Cowbells are very very popular as well, which are supposed to enhance the power of the mask in scaring off the demons. That's the basic story. There is clearly a lot I don't understand, like why some people are dressed like clowns, or bears, or transvestite clowns...it's all a little overwhelming. Pernik's festival has become the largest in the Balkans, attracting 5000+ participants from all over the Balkans plus random ones from places like Spain and Palestine. People are drinking heavily. It's cold. It's loud. It's weird. It's wonderful. Enjoy the pictures, and for those around Bulgaria next year at the end of January, this spectacle really is a "must-see."

Check out the size of his cowbell. Compensating for something, perhaps?

These girls from the Ukraine just had the biggest grins.

Parts of his mask appear to be made with spray insulation. Awesome.

Shannon, Abby, and Kat with a member of my favorite Surva group, from Bansko. All of their costumes were of this sheepskin, and they danced to make it all shake and sway fantastically.

Shannon with Katerina, a woman she just met 5 minutes before. Katerina was from the Ukraine originally, but now lives in Bulgaria. She offered us hot wine, repeatedly, and rather insistently after she found out that Shannon had the flu. She invited us to her farm this spring. She was very drunk.

Proud Balkan mama and her cute Bansko monster-son.

Part of a town group from Gabarevo, with cannon.

This cross-dresser was really good at shaking his/her hips. I don't understand how they fit into the whole festival tradition, but most dance groups had a few.