Traditions of Plovdiv
One of Europe's oldest cities, home of the Kukeri festival, rose oil and Thracian heritage.
Plovdiv is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, with a Roman theatre still used today. Bulgarian traditions persist in its old houses and its calendar. Kukeri, men in shaggy costume and fearsome masks hung with bells, appear in winter to scare away evil spirits, and the Rose Valley nearby harvests petals for rose oil.
Kukeri and the rose harvest
The kukeri jump and shake their huge bells in the streets in January and at the start of Lent, to wake the earth and drive off evil. The masks combine animal heads, beads, and woollen strips. Every spring, in the Rose Valley, the Rose Festival has pickers harvesting at dawn and a procession in costume.
At the table
Banitsa, a flaky cheese pie, is eaten for breakfast and made at New Year with lucky charms inside. Shopska salad, tarator, a cold yoghurt and cucumber soup, kavarma, a clay-pot stew, and yoghurt are everyday. Rakia, a fruit brandy, is poured to toast, and rose jam is a treat.
Signature traditions of Plovdiv
Also part of it, and being written: Rose Festival, Kazanlak (The rose festival.).
A trail idea for Plovdiv
- Old Town Walk the Revival houses.
- Roman Theatre Sit in the stones.
- Kapana district Eat and shop.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Banitsa: Sheku80, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Martenitsa: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kukeri: Nenko Lazarov, CC BY 2.5, source