Peace Corps in Macedonia: Galichnik Wedding

On Sunday, July 13, many of us from Prilep rented a kombi in order to enjoy the Galichnik Wedding festival in Mavrovo National Park. Many of us had heard that this festival is a must-see in Macedonia, and I was excited that I would be able to knock another to-do off my summer list (though I technically did not camp in Mavrovo, I was happy to visit Macedonia’s largest national park).

This festival preserves the traditional ways of Macedonian weddings. Macedonian couples from all over Macedonia apply to have their wedding in this traditional way, even though it is publicly displayed to tourists and national media. This year, two couples were awarded the honor of being wed thus, and so their families and friends joined them at this festival, dressed in traditional clothing, to experience this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

We left Prilep at 5AM on Sunday morning to take the long cruise to Western Macedonia. Once we started to travel through the park, we ascended past the tree line, and it felt like I was in Montana on my way to Yellowstone National Park. As soon as we arrived in the small village near Lake Mavrovo, we walked about a mile before we descended into the center of the village. I had read online that Galichnik is a village with only one resident, which is an elderly woman. However, as we walked through the village, it was evident that that rumor was not true, since many of the houses seemed recently renovated. The town was filled with tourists from within and from outside Macedonia. We all explored the church, and then found a seat in the adjacent amphitheater to watch the ceremony.

It all began at 10AM when the two grooms were joined by their families in the center. Returning from the cemetery to commemorate their dead relatives, they shave the groom publicly in front of the amphitheater, and then the families go to the “brides’ houses” to ultimately ask for the bride’s hand in marriage. After permissions are given, presents are exchanged, rugs are spread out, and the couples and their friends are splattered with leaves of basil soaked in water, they make their way to the church to finally tie the knot. Like all great things in Macedonia, the ceremony ended with a traditional dance.

I felt happy to witness such an important part of Macedonian history through this ceremony. Honestly, before I arrived, I thought that the festival would be more “inclusive,” with a wedding buffet available for purchase by tourists, and with dancing all over the village. Instead, this ceremony really focused on and preserved the traditional way these couples were married, and thus the ceremony kept changing locations all over the town. Eventually, I got tired of following the wedding party and decided to just enjoy a beer and salad with a few others from our group in the center. However, after the ceremony ended, we enjoyed a great meal in Kicevo.