Martenica

All over the world people meet spring with joy and new hope, but it is only in Bulgaria where it is kept as an ancient custom.

If you are walking along the streets in Bulgaria on the 1st of March you will see many smiling faces. But first of all your eyes will be captured by martenica. Everyone has decorated their clothes with them. Moreover, you can see decorated dogs and cats. In the small villages people decorate their domestic animals. Houses have their own martenica as well.

This widespread practice of wearing of Martenica and its exclusive stability in the Bulgarian folk culture is explained with the believed magical power of the red color. It is believed to have the magic power to chase away the evil spirits, the demons and the illnesses.