Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Carol singers in Bulgaria's Yambоl not only sing blessings, but also dance the buenek

Photo: Daniela Kostova, BNR correspondent in Yambol

In Yambol, a large Christmas carolling festival is traditionally organized on December 25, in which dozens of caroling groups (koledari) sing and dance.

Only in Yambol the carollers not only sing and bless, but also dance.
The Yambol Christmas buenek dance was born more than a century ago in the oldest district of the town, Kargon. At that time, there were cavalry troops in the Yambol garrison. The caroling boys liked their clothes and begin to imitate them, says ethnographer Dinka Angelova:
"The Yambol carollers, while they were going from house to house on the evening of Christmas Eve before Christmas, began to stamp their feet - firstly to warm themselves and secondly so that the young maidens could hear that their chosen ones would visit their house."

The spurred boots, the military breeches and the saber carried by the leader of the carollers, the exuberant Christmas dancing and carolling can be seen and heard on today's festive day in Yambol.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

"Come down, Dzherman, and dine!" – the lost magic of Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, once called Budnik, Little Christmas or Neyadka, was considered part of a dark, frightening period, charged with the potential to influence the entire upcoming year. For this reason, the night before Christmas was associated with..

published on 12/24/24 5:30 AM

St Ignatius' Day - awaiting the Young God and the Sun reborn

It's Ignazhden! On St Ignatius' Day, 20 December, we honour the memory of St Ignatius the Theophorus. In the Bulgarian calendar St Ignatius' Day (Ignazhden) is not only a religious but also a folklore holiday. According to national tradition, it is..

published on 12/20/24 6:30 AM

From watermelon madjun to Dervishovden - Bulgaria's newest Living Human Treasures 

Eight authentic Bulgarian traditions and skills, passed down through generations, have been added to the National Representative List of Bulgarian Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,  becoming part of Bulgaria's Living Human Treasures.  "This..

published on 12/11/24 8:25 AM