Programme: Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Enhanced Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups

The project proposal is aimed at residents and visitors of Berkovitsa. With its implementation will be revived several folk customs that are typical of the Berkovitsa region.
The Babinden ritual is one of the great folk women's holidays, dedicated to the "grandmothers" - the women who help in childbirth and the young brides and grooms who have given birth. It is celebrated on January 8 (or on January 21 in the old style). The ritual on this day is subordinated mainly to the desire to pay homage and respect to the elderly women who "grandmothers" gave birth. Nowadays, Babinden loses a lot of its ritual customs, but is celebrated by the elderly and is associated with a lot of laughter and merriment.
The "Butterfly" ritual is a traditional custom on the Balkan Peninsula. It is a ritual ritual to summon rain, held in spring and summer, on certain dates or in times of drought. The custom has many regional variations. In its typical Bulgarian version, a little girl, usually an orphan and preferably the first or last child, barefoot, in a shirt and covered with greenery, walks around the village, accompanied by a group of girls, and the owners of each house water it through a bread sieve. to rain a small, irrigating rain.
"Tryphon slaughtered" or Vineyard Day is a Bulgarian national holiday in honor of St. Tryphon. It is celebrated on February 14 by vine growers, falconers, gardeners and pub owners.
In traditional culture, cutting vines is an extremely masculine activity. The abandonment of the first sticks is accompanied by watering the vine with wine for fertility and sprinkling it with wood ash from the hearth against diseases on the vineyards. After cutting, the vine sticks are usually left on the vineyard so as not to "lift the blessing" from it. One of the sticks is always folded into a wreath, which is placed on the hat, around the waist or over the shoulder.