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Festivals such as Surva have roots that extend back to pre-Christian times.
ADVERTISEMENTEurope’s most intriguing festivals aren’t always the ones on postcards or Instagram feeds.As winter melts into spring, you’ll find age-old celebrations steeped in local folklore, unique rituals and community spirit across the continent.These folk festivals immerse you in traditions that stretch back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Whether it’s torchlit processions, folk dances or modernised pagan rituals, these events take you far off the beaten path into Europe’s cultural heart. Bonfires and blessings: Medieval Andalusian traditions at the San Antón FestivalFrom 16-18 January, Andalusian villages come alive for the San Antón Festival, a fiery celebration steeped in 800-year-old traditions.Dedicated to Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals, this unique festival has a lot going on, from folk dances around community fires to priests blessing pet dogs, cats and hamsters at local churches. The festival is believed to have begun in the 13th century. Traditionally, farmers burned olive branches and ‘esparto’ baskets, which were used to gather the fruit, believing the fires would ward off pests and protect their olive groves and animals from diseases.Nowadays, locals gather around the fires to drink beer, eat roasted pumpkin and popcorn and burn straw-filled dolls tied with firecrackers. All the while they dance and sing folk songs known as ‘melenchones’ – typically cheeky tales of lovers’ quarrels.When they aren’t singing and dancing, pet owners flock to churches to have their furry friends blessed by priests.The festival takes place across Andalusia, from bustling Málaga to the white-washed village of Canillas de Albaida and olive-producing Jaén, where you can join a 10-km night run before eating, drinking and dancing all night.Kukeri: Menacing masks and driving away evil spirits at Bulgaria’s ancient New Year festivalBulgaria is home to one of Europe’s oldest festivals.Typically in the second week of January, the Surva festival illuminates Bulgarian villages with intense celebrations rooted in ancient folklore. Nowhere more than Pernik, a town about 35 km west of Sofia.At the heart of Pernik’s pre-Christian festival are ‘kukeri’, elaborately costumed dancers dressed in menacing hand-carved, animalistic masks, fur suits and belts tied with bells.The ‘kukeri’ parade through the city streets, chanting and stomping to drive away evil spirits and invite good fortune, health and abundant harvests for the year ahead. At night, they wield torches, sing songs and dance to ensure the evil spirits stay away, too.‘Kukeri’ festivals take place in villages across Bulgaria, but Pernik – where the Surva festivities have been inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list – is the beating heart of this ancient pagan festival. The last weekend of January, Pernik hosts the International Festival of the Masked Games, a two-day party featuring games and parades displaying handmade masks.ADVERTISEMENTUp Helly Aa: A torchlit tribute to Shetland’s Norse heritageIn contrast to Surva, Up Helly Aa is one of Europe’s youngest festivals.Held on the last Tuesday of January in Lerwick, on Scotland’s remote Shetland islands, the festival officially dates to 1870, even if the Viking rituals make it look much older.Marking the end of the Yuletide season, the festival began almost spontaneously. Lubricated by long nights of drinking, drum-beating and general debauchery, young men began burning tar barrels sometime in the middle of the 18th century.In 1870, a group of young men came up with the name Up Helly Aa, introduced disguises (‘guizing’) and inaugurated a torchlight procession. In the 20th century, tributes to the island’s Norse heritage, including Viking attire and the burning of a galley boat, became traditions.ADVERTISEMENTToday, this unique annual event has transformed into a full-blown imitation of an ancient Viking festival with parades, replica costumes and – of course – feasts in community halls.Since 2023, women and girls, who historically were limited to roles as hostesses in the community halls, have been included in the guizing and torchlit processions as well. Find true love at Romania’s DragobeteIf Valentine’s Day feels too commercial, Dragobete in Romania offers a refreshing alternative.Celebrated on 24 February, this folk festival is Romania’s unique day of love, steeped in traditions and folklore.ADVERTISEMENTIn Romanian folklore, Dragobete is the son of Baba Dochia, a figure associated with the end of winter and the coming of spring. He is also the Dacian god of love, like Cupid or Eros.Unlike those mythological matchmakers, Dragobete never uses magical powers to make people fall in love. Instead, he reminds people always to celebrate love.The traditions that take place during Dragobete are unique, to say the least.In villages, girls and boys in traditional attire gather to search for spring flowers – wild strawberries are especially auspicious. At noon, the girls run back to the village, chased by their love interests. If they catch up and there’s chemistry, they kiss to publicise their love.ADVERTISEMENTUnsurprisingly, engagements and marriages often take place during the festival.Singles won’t feel left out, though. In cities like Bucharest, visitors can explore love-themed exhibitions, farmers markets and performances such as ‘Carmen’ at the national opera.Burn the Böögg as Zurich bids farewell to winterEurope’s winter festivals seem to revolve around fires, but few have the symbolic power of Zurich’s Sechseläuten in Zurich – meaning ‘the six o’clock ringing of the bells’. On the third Monday in April – 28 April 2025 to be precise – the city marks the unofficial end to winter. Zurich’s guilds parade through town, ending with a burning of the ‘Böögg’, a Bogeyman figure that takes the form of a snowman.ADVERTISEMENTIn the past, there were many Bööggs, which local kids would tie to wagons and drag through the streets before burning. Today, the Böögg is a 3.4-m effigy loaded with explosives.At precisely 6pm, the Böögg is lit. It’s believed that the faster the fire reaches its head, which is filled with firecrackers, and makes it explode, the finer the summer will be.
