The quiz which Radio Bulgaria conducted among our multilingual audience from all over the world showed clearly that our listeners are well acquainted with the spring traditions of the Bulgarians and especially with the image of Baba Marta.
75% of the online users of Radio Bulgaria answered correctly to the question "Who is Baba Marta - a good fairy, a witch, a mythical folklore character, a fortune teller or a fairytale hero". And here is the correct answer:
Baba Marta is a folklore personage associated with the most colorful and popular Bulgarian tradition.
Bulgarians dedicate a range of colorful traditions to Baba Marta on the first day of March, symbolizing the coming spring. We have been telling you about these traditions in our folklore section.
Baba Marta is a symbol of new beginnings and brings wishes for health and fertility. Since time immemorial, Bulgarians have decorated themselves, their children, domestic animals and pets with martenitsa (twisted white and red threads).
In the past, throughout the month of March, the ancestors performed rituals to drive away snakes and lizards, and made divinations according to the behavior of migratory birds.
Свързана публикация в текста:
The tradition of exchanging martenitsi is still preserved today. It brings joy, faith and hope to both children and adults.
According to traditional belief, Baba Marta is a capricious and capricious old woman. She is the sister of Big and Little Sechko (the months of January and February) and is constantly annoyed with them, mostly because her two brothers have drunk her wine.
Who is Baba Marta? See more in the article Granny Marta and her brothers from the collection of Radio Bulgaria.
To this day, Bulgarians like to say that March is a lady's month because of its capricious and fickle temper. How about you - do you agree with that?
Write to us at radiobulgaria@bnr.bg/or English@bnr.bg and be sure to take our new quiz. The next question will appear soon on the website of Radio Bulgaria.
Compiled by: Veneta Nikolova
Photos: library
The feast of the Annunciation (Blagoveshtenie in Bulgaria) is a holy day , a symbol of God’s infinite mercy to people and especially to women, blessed to bear new life, but also an embodiment of the eternal human longing for something better in the..
Clocks and bells will ring out in the center of Stara Zagora on Saturday, when the city will host the XXIV Masquerade Games Festival . The event will start with a traditional parade of participants. Attractive babugers, araps, old men and other..
Today marks the 88th anniversary of the birth of remarkable Bulgaria folk singer Nadka Karadzhova . Born on March 14, 1937 in the then Pazardzhik village of Trivoditsi (today - Plovdiv region), she is a descendant of an old musical family. At the age..
The Eastern Rhodopes come to life in the heart of Sofia – with authentic flavoуrs, music and craftsmanship . Residents of the Bulgaria capital have a..
Cloudy
Scattered showers
Cloudy
Overcast, rain
Rain