Trifon Zarezan

A feast for the vineyards

In Bulgarian folk tradition the day belongs first of all to the vine. It opens the yearly round of vine care, when the canes are cut back in spring, and so it becomes the wine grower's own feast. Wine growers keep it as a professional holiday, and so do falconers, gardeners, barrel-makers and innkeepers. Saint Tryphon is held to be their patron. Old church pictures show him with a scythe, a curved cutting blade, in his hand, the tool of the trade he watches over.

The saint and the name day

Saint Tryphon gives the feast its name. He is remembered as one who died for his faith in the third century. Christians in Bulgaria and elsewhere in the Balkans know him, and his day sits in the Orthodox calendar, at the change from winter towards spring. Because the day is his, it doubles as a name day. Households of people called Trifon, Trifko, Trifa, Trifka, Trajan, Fune or Racho, among the many forms of the name, mark it together.

The Trifontsi days

Trifon Zarezan opens a run of feasts known together as Trifontsi. The group takes in Trifonovden, Midsummer and Saint Simeon, kept on the days that follow. Folk belief links these days to wolves, which are mating then. So scissors are left alone, the doors of the house stay shut at night to keep the wolves' jaws closed through the year, and no work is done. Anyone who works on these days, the saying goes, draws wolf attacks upon himself.

Bread for the animals

In some places, among them Belogradchik and Montana, households bake a special bread on these days to guard their livestock. The loaf is overcooked, then broken up and mixed into the animals' feed. The purpose is protection: the same wish that keeps the wolves' jaws shut is meant to bring the herd and the flock safely through the year. The bread is not food for people in this custom. It belongs to the animals it is meant to shield.

How Trifon Zarezan is kept

Men and women take part together. The day is the signal to begin cutting back the vines, the first task of the year in the vineyard. Households and villages mark it as a festival and as a name day, so people called Trifon and the many forms of that name are greeted and visited. Wine growers and the other trades that claim Saint Tryphon as patron keep it as their own holiday. In some districts bread is baked and given to the livestock to protect them.

When and where

In Bulgaria the feast is kept on 1 February by the Gregorian reckoning. Churches that still follow the Julian calendar for worship keep it on 14 February. Since 1968 most Christian churches, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church among them, have used the New Julian calendar. As a leftover of the older practice, the wine growers' secular feast often stays on 14 February.

It is a national custom in Bulgaria and a fixed point in the traditional Bulgarian holiday calendar. Knowledge of Saint Tryphon stretches into other Balkan countries too, where the Orthodox calendar shapes the day. Within Bulgaria, some places are named for their own observances: Belogradchik and Montana are known for bread baked to protect livestock.

What Trifon Zarezan means

Those who keep the feast read it as a turn of the year, the moment winter gives way to spring. Cutting the vines is the first act of a long cycle, so the day carries the hope of a good season ahead. Saint Tryphon stands as patron of the trade, shown in old iconography with a scythe. The wolf customs carry another meaning: protection, the wish that animals and households come through the year unharmed.

Questions people ask about Trifon Zarezan

See also

Kupala NightA summer solstice folk festival marked by bonfires, water rituals and herbal gatherings across Eastern Europe.HıdırellezA spring festival marking the meeting of two prophets, celebrated across Turkey and the Balkans.MărțișorA spring custom of wearing intertwined red and white strings to welcome the new season.KoliadaA traditional winter caroling and solstice festival kept across Slavic Europe

Good reading and sources

• Trifon Zarezan on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-12.