Martenitsa

After a long pause, we invite you to celebrate Spring Bulgarian-style with a dance party, featuring live music by Orkestar Bez Ime, Mila Vocal Ensemble and Makam Baklava, hosted by the Bulgarian School of Minnesota – “Saints Cyril and Methodius”! What started as a small underground gathering of Balkan music-obsessed fans and the local Bulgarian community has grown into a massive Balkan dance party featuring music from Bulgaria, Macedonia, and surrounding areas.

Martenitsa is a musical celebration of the coming of spring and the holiday of Baba Marta (baba meaning “grandma,” and Marta a derivative of the word for “March”) Traditional folklore depicts Baba Marta as a temperamental old woman whose moods are as changeable as March weather. On March 1st, it is customary to exchange and wear Martenitsa—tokens of good health, luck and vitality. Wearing the red and white yarns of the Martenitsa symbolizes the hope that Baba Marta will smile and grant us an early spring. As we Minnesotans know, the end of winter can never come soon enough.