interesting customs of your country

Tell us about them!

Some of Bulgarians are:

Nestinarstvo -  or barefoot people who dance on embers with the icon of Sv. Bogorodica (St. Virgin Mary)

Kukeri - they pursue the bad!!

With this masks they want to scare the bad spirits. The kuker have one leader which lead them through the village and at the end they kill the bad on megadana /a place where long time ago on every holly day Bulgarians were meeting, dancing, celebrating/

Martenica: The end of winter

 

Zagovezni - people jump over fire for luck and health

 

Edited by tzar

 Wow they look really drunk and have great  fun!!!

- eating cheese
- eating 'drop'
- eating 'boerenkool met worst'
- eating out of a wall
- making fun out of Belgians
- making fun out of Germans
- making fun out of muslims (a very recent custom)
- riding bicycles
- stealing bicycles
- buying stolen bicycles
- blaming Germans for stealing bicycles

customs that are not Dutch (any more):
- being tolerant
- wearing clogs

Originally posted by Temujin Lederhosen are NOT!!!!! German, they're a Bavarian (and Tyrolean)custom...seriously, no other German tribe can be dumb enough to wear that crap.

Apart from my local Riflemen Association.

There just about to shoot at a wooden eagle,after they put the wreath at the local war memorial.The one who knocks it down, becomes the "Riflemen King" with a golden chain and then they all drink lots of beer and start to sing and slap each others backs.......

The second on the left is me!




Only joking!



Edited by Komnenos

Midsummer, raising a big stick and dancing silly ring dances around it (same is done with the Christmas tree BTW). This symbolizes new life (human as well), the rebirth of the soil and its refertilization - not much fantasy is needed to come up with what the actual stick represents. The Church tried to ban it, but no-one cared and its still the number one holidady. Lots of old folklore around. The major task is to get laid, and failing that, get drunk.



Mocking ze French! The silliest of silly dances is that to the song Sm� grodorna (the Little Frogs), a French-mocking legacy of the Napoleonic wars that somehow stuck and now represents something very Swedish. Few actually now it's origins though.



Lucia procession.
Somehow St Lucia of Siciliy, patron saint of Syracuse, ended up the only celebrated saint in Protestant Sweden. In some peculiar combination of pagan and Catholic rites, she is celebrated on December 13th as the bringer of light (connected with Midwinter).





Ice bathing. Usually you have a sauna nearby. And booze. You sauna-bath, hole-in-the-ice-bath, sauna bath, etc, till everyone give up.

This is the only Swedish competitor in some Finnish ice bath competition (Finns have the most weird sports, like 'throw with small lady', 'mud football', 'wife-carrying', etc).

edit: found a more solemn one, as part of army training.


Edited by Styrbiorn

Part 3 in the series:

"Fat German men in stupid costumes"

The Board of Directors of the local Carneval Association, getting drunk........



Edited by Komnenos

You fellow citizens are forgetting the weirdest of all

Sinterklaas

Well it's too weird, just look it up if you're interested... a hint, it involves black painted people throwing little pieces of spiced biscuit all over the place, led by some Saint - Odhin hybrid  Oh, and he's the guy Coca cola based Santa on

Originally posted by MixcoatlToltecahtecuhtli Originally posted by Styrbiorn Lucia procession. Somehow St Lucia of Siciliy, patron saint of Syracuse, ended up the only celebrated saint in Protestant Sweden. In some peculiar combination of pagan and Catholic rites, she is celebrated on December 13th as the bringer of light (connected with Midwinter). They look somewhat like the KKK

Look the second person left on Santa (the girl with red hat)! Don't you think she has made a strange physiognomy? And this one with the candlestick on the head what is her role?

Edited by tzar

Originally posted by Komnenos Part 3 in the series: "Fat German men in stupid costumes" The Board of Directors of the local Carneval Association, getting drunk........

Are you German? Or Germans just are your weakness

Part 4 in the series:

"Fat German men in stupid costumes"

This is not, as you might expect the annual convention of the German Waiters Union, but the local Men's Choir,
tough sinewy men who roam the valleys of Rhine and Mosella and terrorise locals and tourists with their close harmony singing......(Anyone knows where this is quoted from?)



Edited by Komnenos