INTERNATIONAL MUMMERS FESTIVAL “SURVA” IN PERNIK STARTS ON 30th OF JANUARY

The 24th edition of the International Mummers Festival “Surva” in Pernik will take place from 30th of January to 1st of February.

Over 5000 mummers will mark the start of the traditional festival. The capital of mummers play, Pernik, will host the performances of 85 troupes from all ethnographic areas of Bulgaria as well as folklore groups from Slovakia, Serbia, Italy, Slovenia, Macedonia, Holland, Romania, Greece, Indonesia and Palestine.

The participants will take part in a torchlight procession on Friday night, 30th of January.

Mummers (Kukeri in Bulgarian) is a Bulgarian tradition of Thracian origins. In ancient times the old Thracians held the Mummers Play in honour of god Dionysus.

The Mummers plays are performed by men only, dressed in colourful hand-made costumes and wearing scary masks. Each wears a leather belt around the waist with huge copper bells (chanove) attached to it.

The ‘Mummers’ masks are decorated with threads, ribbons, laces and usually represent animals like goats, bulls, rams, or even chicken. Some of the masks are double-faced. On one of the sides, the nose is snubbed and the face is good-humored, on the other side, the nose is hooked and the face is ominous. Those masks symbolize the good and the bad which co-exist in the world.

The decoration colours represent the symbolic meaning of the masks. Red is the most used colour, symbolizing fertility of the reviving nature, the sun and the fire; the black colour represents Mother Earth and white is a symbol of water and light.

Mummers walk around, jump and dance special magic dances to scare away the evil spirits, to celebrate the beginning of spring and hopes for a good harvest, health, land fertility, and happiness.

The event in Pernik is the oldest festival of mummers play in Bulgaria. The first edition was opened on January 16, 1966.

In the different parts of Bulgaria mummers are called Kukeri, Survakari, Babugeri and Dzhamilari. This ancient custom from Thracian times became even more popular after 1985, when the festival gained international-event status.

In 1995, Pernik became member of the European Carnival Cities Federation (ECCF). In July 2009, the President of the ECCF, Henry Van Der Kroon declared Pernik a European Capital of Sourvakar and Mummer traditions.

Since 2008 the Festival has been conducted every year in the last Saturday and Sunday of January.

By the end of this year, it is expected to be included in UNESCO’s list of protected non-material cultural heritage.